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Amazon To Offer Ad-Supported Kindle
awyeah writes "Amazon will soon be offering a discounted, ad-supported Wi-Fi Kindle called 'Kindle with Special Offers.' The price will be $114, a $25 discount from the $139 wifi-only device. Note that the advertisements will not appear during reading, only on the screen saver and home page. Will that be enough of a discount to get readers to purchase an ad-supported device?"
An ad supported kindle should be free, or at least under $40. I would gladly pay the extra $25 to not see ads. In fact, I have.
"...Will that be enough of a discount to get readers to purchase an ad-supported device?"
Probably, but chances are most users, no matter how unobtrusive the ads may be, will likely regret not forking over the "extra" $25 to try and have at least ONE electronic experience that is ad-free, as one can hardly get away from advertising these days, no matter where you are.
For $25 do I only get ads for a week or two? Or for the rest of the devices lifetime? It's not worth the discount if the latter.
Nope. Not nearly enough.
Uh, "if it looks roughly mouse-shaped according to my infra-red sensitive pit, eat it"? --Chris Burke 09-08-10
I think the inevitable end result of ad-supported e-Books is subtle (or not so subtle) product placements inserted into books. I can't wait until "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" becomes a product placement for Timex, and Tom Sawyer takes a refreshing sip of Coca-cola as he rafts down the Mississippi.
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
Will the device refuse to run if it's not able to connect to the ad server?
Sign me up!
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
At a hardware level, the e-ink screen is begging for this kind of treatment. When powered off, it's basically a coffee-table billboard waiting to happen, married to all the radios and spyware you need to profile the house its sitting in and deliver the ads.
I'm totally grossed out by this. For now it's opt in, but it won't be in the future. Expect this to show up on all kinds of crap as e-ink screen prices drop. Lunch boxes, refrigerators, etc.
Just another reason the $75 Kobo is the best e-reader on the market (I've owned a Nook, Kindle and Kobo).
until the hackers figure out how to disable the ads on the cheaper model and then I'll get one. ;)
Considering their closed business model (you can't read an eBook from any vendor other than Amazon on a Kindle), the device itself, even without ads, should be very close to free. Amazon should be looking at the Gilette business model; charge next to nothing for your razors and make your money on the blades. I might pay $25 for a device that locks me into Amazon as my exclusive eBook vendor, but not a penny more.
Amazon will eventually drop the price to $99 or less, and at that price point buyers will be willing to accept a cheaper, ad-subsidized device.
I'd much rather see this model apply to eBook prices rather than the readers themselves. I took the plunge a week ago and got me a fancy-pants new eReader, only to find that the prices for the eBooks are actually higher than the prices for the mass-market paperbacks in a lot of cases.
Who in their right mind would subject themselves to advertising for the life of a product to save a measly $25. One would think that after the success of the Kindle and its proprietary nature they would be able to approach advertisers and offer a rather large captive audience that is fully trackable and work out a deal to basically give kindles away....that would have impressive and could have worked to make kindles as ubiquitous as television.
What a deal -- if you are an advertising firm. $25 for directed adverts for years.
Not only is the $25 not enough of a discount, but it is enough to make me spend lots more on a different device.
Basically the Kindle's primary purpose is as a promotional tool for eBooks. Amazon wants people to buy eBooks and they want them to buy from Amazon.
So the device is an advertisment.
Will the device refuse to run if it's not able to connect to the ad server?
Between connections to the Internet, the device would probably display cached ads, and then it would update them when the user buys a new book.
The Kindle is based on e-ink, which consumes a negligible amount of electricity when displaying a page. The ads will only be displayed on the lock screen page, and the bottom of the home page. There will not be any ads on the bottom of the books themselves. This might work if Amazon regularly includes really great offers to owners of the ad-Kindle such as half-priced Amazon gift cards and books, as the article suggests.
Personally, I'd rather pay the extra $25 to get an ad-free version. However, if this works out and advertisers are plenty, Amazon might start giving bigger discounts to get a larger audience.
A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
Save $25, spend hundreds of dollars buying advertised stuff.
Sorry, if it's going to subject me to ads then it needs to be free, or so cheap that I'll *feel* like I'm actually getting a deal. Ferretman
Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
If you want to disturb me in any way with an Ad, the service I am using better be free.
...of having an ad on the cover of a device when it is turned off. Thank god your tablet, smartphone or laptop does not have a big logo on the cover, advertising its manufacturer.
I wouldn't mind getting a $25 discount for that. The two problems that I have with it are:
* Are the ads related to what I bought on Amazon? If I buy, say, a dozen dildos, do I have advertisments for sex toys on the cover of my kindle for the next two weeks (or until I buy something else)
* Is Amazon going to pull a bezos on me? After two months reverting and saying "you know what, we are going to insert advertisements inside your e-book on second thought. You know, a bit like "an e-book on the kindle is just like a real book. Except that we can yank it from your shelf if we decide that's a good idea".
This discount is on the version that you have to hook to your computer in order to update. A single $25 discount seems inappropriate for this devices.
I would rather see a discount on the free-3G/wifi version of the unit. In this product, you get free 3G for life. An ad-supported model makes more sense because you continue to receive a service in exchange for continuing to receive ads. It would also allow them to update those ads more often.
The best solution would be to discount the reader a bit *and* discount each kindle book you buy, say maybe by 10%.
The fantastic thing about the Kindle is it just works and does nothing except display books... which is great if you read, read and don't care about anything else on the device. The idea that anyone spending over 100 on this device anyway for the sole purpose of reading (therefore someone who enjoys reading a *lot) will want to save $25 for the benefit of having their reading interrupted is ridiculous. I wouldn't even want my beloved Kindle for free if it was harassing me.
Reminds me of those stupid offers 10 years ago, free computer with ads forever... thankfully those companies went bankrupt. FAIL.
What would be interesting is determining how much advertisments cost to put on a kindle - how much Amazon takes from each 'click' (do people still pay for impressions?) and work out just how many times a user needs to react to an ad for Amazon to get its money worth.
I'd have bought one... given that I rooted mine 20min after taking it out of the box. This discount version would have saved me $25 I could have spend on a case. Oh wait, i hacked up an old pocket organizer and velcro'd the kindle in... I guess amazon just can't win with me.
Seriously a $25 savings for a life of ads? Fuck that shit.
I wonder if this process would eliminate the screensaver ads that amazon wants to load?
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
After they acquire enough significant sponsorship, I wouldn't be surprised to see it become free. Most of us may not desire that, because if you can afford $114 for an e-reader, you can probably afford $139. On the other hand, if you can't afford anything near that price, then ad consumption in return for a device could mean the difference between having and not having one at all. It would make it available to an entire range of people who may otherwise not be able to benefit from a device so many of us take for granted (whether or not we own or use them).
Of course, the real appeal for this will be that when it becomes free, it'll surely be given to every student in every public school and they'll receive a special stream of advertisements not only as currently described in the press release by Amazon, but on a more granular basis. I can just see students opening their textbook and hearing/seeing "Remember, this Earth Sciences textbook is brought to you by Monsanto Growth for a Better World! or a five and ten second pre-rolls for every test question.
Soon? They had this on sale since sunday.
If you can root the Kindle and remove the Ads then this may be worth it. If not, or if you don't want to, it'll have to go more than $25 off...
Really, Amazon will be making much more than $25 per Kindle over the life of the devices showing ads, so they should make the devices cheaper than that. It's not like they're going to be losing money.
Unfortunately ads have a tendency to multiply as time goes by. How many ads will readers have to endure in, say, a year's time before they can turn the page?
Sorry, ad supported for $25.00? get bent.
Free for add supported? then they will generate interest. Whoever though that a pittance discount = the value of the invasive advertising is nuts.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Most of the current screensavers are ugly. I imagine ads would look better than the current screenssavers do, and get you it cheaper. Not much different from having ads in magazines on your coffee table at teh end of the day.
So basically, If you're the one buying these ads, you're targeting the people who were too cheap to pay the extra $25. Is this the best use of your advertising dollars, getting the demographic that doesn't like spending?
When the original Kindle came out, people complained it was horribly expensive. Whenever Amazon released a new model and/or chopped the MSRP, people complained it was horribly expensive. When it went under $200 people bitched that there was no reason for it to sell for more than $150. When the Wifi model came out for $139 people complained that there was no reason for it to cost more than $100. Now the Wifi can be purchased for $114 and people are going to come up with any excuse to complain about the price, ads or both.
I am 100% convinced that even if Amazon gives it away just for the cost of shipping (free if you are on Prime), people will still bitch and moan about the stupid ads.
I have owned two Kindles (awesome, cludgy), two Kindle 2s (awesome, period) and currently two Kindle 3 Wifi (awesome, keyboard sucks). All of our previous Kindle devices were sold to friends for a reasonable price, and all of them are (that I know) still up and running today, and each and everyone loves them.
Both my wife and myself adore this device, for people like us that read a book or more per week these devices are extremely practical. The Wifi model uses so little power that it freaks me out whenever I realize that I actually need to charge it.
Pedro
----
The Insomniac Coder
If you'd like to give me a portable, sunlight-readable billboard for free, that's just fine.
Mission: To provide products that consume time and energy as entertainingly as permitted by the laws of thermodynamics.
I spend more than that a month for Audible audiobooks (Amazon) and Kindle books. And I use it all through my Android DroidX. After a year, I should be getting a FREE Kindle. I'd be willing to put up with ads ONLY if it were completely free. If they add in a stipulation that you've purchased at least $250 worth of content, I'm fine with that too, because I have. I've bought the Kindle as a gift for someone else, and really liked the readability. Reading on a DroidX kinda sucks, but I love books. Why should they give me a free Kindle? Because if I purchase a really large book (500+ pages), I go to a Barnes & Noble and pick up the paperback for $10. If Kindle wants to capture my sales as a higher volume customer, Kindle should be free.
Of course, should they give them away like freaking CueCats? That's a great question. I know RadioShack would jump on board, haha. Maybe that's a genius marketing strategy to beat Apple. Maybe make it "free" with a newspaper subscription. But once someone crosses a certain purchase threshold, they should get a 100% off coupon code.
I8-D
"...Will that be enough of a discount to get readers to purchase an ad-supported device?"
The better question is:
How long before the ad-free version stops being offered?
I, for one, welcome this. As long as the ads being displayed are even remotely as interesting as the artwork the screensavers show currently I'm all for it. Only having the dozen or so screensavers we have right now on the kindle is boring. I'd be willing to voluntarily turn this on if it means I get some more variety.
Frozen Insanity
http://frozen-solid.net
If the ads are unobtrusive and artistically done, I don't think it will bother a lot of people. Unlike most other forms of advertising, I don't really mind the ads in magazines. They don't get in the way of reading, are higher quality and some are actually enjoyable to look at.
There is a difference of a nice picture of nice scenery and a polar bear drinking a coke with a logo in the corner compared to big block letters that say DRINK COKE.
If you think about it, the Amazon logo on the device is its own form of advertising. People would put pictures of cars on their PC's desktop, which is also a form of advertising. As a kid, I would cut some advertisements out of a magazine and hang it on my wall.
If done unobtrusively and tastefully, I don't think most people will be turned off that much. I personally would pay the $25 premium for an ad free versions, but there will still be a significant segment of the population who wouldn't mind the ad supported version.
"Will that be enough of a discount to get readers to purchase an ad-supported device"
Yes. Because I'm sure that Amazon has done the market research. They didn't just make up a magical amount. I'm sure they did a cost / revenue analysis and also researched what discount would encourage customers to buy the device.
I hate advertisements, but I thought it interesting to see Amazon take a different approach. They are allowing customers to give feedback on the ads. I am curious if it is easy to upgrade the Special-Offer Kindle to a non-ad supported one.
This is clearly an experiment in market tolerance. Everyone needs to stay away from this and encourage other to do so as well. This makes more money for amazon, so if they do not detect market revulsion, they WILL phase out the add free version ASAP in order to increase their bottom line. Then we will basically have the cable model, where we are paying them so they can hit us with ads for their profit. And I guarantee you that if people are shown to be amenable to this, then all of the other readers will follow suit and the only way to get ad free books will be to go back to the paper variety.
How many more kindles will this pricing option sell?
Are there really that many people out there that would walk away from a $139 kindle, but are willing to buy a $114 kindle with ads?
The discount would have to be much steeper in order to result in a measurable increase in sales.
I suspect that this is really about improving margins, not selling units. People who were already going to buy a kindle will opt for the cheaper one. The ad revenue it brings in will more than offset the purchase discount.
http://xkcd.com/756//
There is speculation that Amazon Prime members may get free Kindles (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20040764-1.html). I would definitely take them up on that and would likely buy books on it. Even if this isn't true, it was a shrewd move by Amazon since I was considering getting a Color Nook and rooting it to put stock Android on it. I'm now holding out until after the holidays to see if this rumor comes to fruition. I wonder how many others that were on the fence about buying a competitors device are now waiting to see if they will get a free Kindle instead.
Rely on it that Amazon has usage data for the existing Kindles out there. They have without a doubt priced the "ad-supported" Kindle such that their estimated number of impressions for the estimated lifespan of the device will pay for the $25. To lower the price further would probably require that they insert ads into the actual reading experience, and nobody in their right mind would want that device.
1) Kindle will not work with epub, or many other formats. Libraries typically use epub format.
2) B&N nook color will be a complete android platform soon. Read any format. Or just use your phone and/or computer to read any ebook format.
3) Ten days without a recharge is, typically, not needed.
4) No color.
5) The "LED eye strain" claims are a hoax. I read an LED all day without eye strain. I'm 52 and I have never had great vision.
6) Kindle does not work well in dim light.
7) Kindle is a unitasker. Why carry around a kindle and a notebook, when a notebook will do everything you need? Why have a kindle and an android tablet, or a kindle and an iPad?
8) No touch screen.
If the device COST $25, AND if I got credit toward free e-books based on how many adverts it displayed/I was forced to see, then MAYBE it would be worth it.
But a one time discount of $25 for adverts to be displayed is not enough. Over a few years Amazon will make far more in advert revenue than $25.
Will the content be free?
I have a kindle and I can see that it would be nice (even a benefit) if the device would automatically show me the next book in the series I am reading. However if there just throwing random ads then I will not have any thing to do with it.
On a side note: I wish amazon would offer the a books package ie. buy real book at regular price get kindle book for $2. I have a constant concern that I am going to loose or break my kindle and then not have access to any of the books I own until I pay another $130.
"For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice" -- God
Only Ads on the homepage? I can deal with that. Doesn't sound like much of an annoyance. Give me ads while I am reading and a huge discount on ebooks, and then we will really talk. I buy the majority of my books used, and rarely pay more than a couple of bucks for a book. When I see the kindle prices of $10 a book, I laugh.
If they want uptake of the Ad-Supported kindle; they should instead charge 3G WhisperNet users a $25 monthly fee, and offer to waive it if they will convert to an Ad-Supported kindle.
I suspect they will do that, eventually.
Maybe offer a "Kindle price" and an "Kindle Special Offers" price for every book... display a little dialog "Convert to a Kindle with Special offers, and receive a $25 rebate, $5 off this book, and 10% off future kindle editions."
The home screen is already pretty small for the task of listing all your books, so "on the home screen" probably means the ad will be full-screen until you press a button to see your home screen. That's something you'll have to put up with every time you switch from one book to another.
That, and the screensaver shows every time you are distracted long enough that it decides you aren't reading anymore. A popular request is the ability to turn the damned thing off. Imagine how much fun it will be to see another ad every time your reading is interrupted.
I ran both Opera and Eudora for a while in ad sponsored mode. The ads were small and not intrusive, much less than a banner takes up on many sites. I found it a reasonable trade off to have a way to support the developers while still getting the full version of the programs for free. I am glad that Amazon is providing this option for those that would want to take advantage of it. From what I read, I don't think I would see them that often. I see the screensaver long enough to turn mine on and I am only on the home page long enough to switch books when I finish what I am reading.
I do think that the discount should be more, a $99 Kindle would be the sweet spot for an ad supported version, especially since for the most part you are locked into buying your ebooks from Amazon so they are going to making money from you with those purchases. There are some smaller publishers that you can get mobi format, Baen for one, but most of the time you would be making your purchases from Amazon.
The screensaver shows every time I am interrupted long enough that it decides I've stopped reading. I probably see that damned thing 10 times per day. That'd be incredibly cheap ad space at $25. Give me the device for free and the books at half price and we'll talk.
A popular request is to be able to disable the screensaver. I can't imagine how annoying it'd be if it was displaying ads.
Hey, I paid $1000 for my computer, and I still have ads... something doesn't add up here.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
The discount is too little.
Well, they might have ads, but also... will they provide your information to the advertisers?