Ad-Supported Kindle

Amazon is now selling an ad-supported version of their Wi-Fi Kindle 3. The wi-fi version regularly retails for $139, but buyers who opt for the "Kindle with special offers" can own a Kindle for $114.

The ads will appear on the home screen and on screen savers, but will not appear in the books themselves (thankfully!).

I am conflicted about this idea. We are bombarded by ads in our society, and throwing them into e-readers seems wrong-headed. We're already paying for the privilege of reading on these devices, and over time, $25 doesn't seem like enough money to save. I also think the price is strange in addition to not being low enough. I am with Michael Grothuas of TUAW: $99 might make the ad-supported Kindle more appealing, at least psychologically.

On the other hand, ads are ubiquitous, and I'm not sure if having them on my e-reader would bother me or not, especially if they were not in the books themselves. I block ads in my web browser using an add-on, however, so they must bother me at least a little, right?

In addition to the ads, other "special offers" include discounted Amazon gift cards and Audible books. How much do you want to bet the ads will be a much more common sight than the discounts?

Bottom line? The savings doesn't seem worth it considering the potential for annoyance.

Audrey Watters of ReadWriteWeb also covered the news. Macworld's Jared Newman offers a different perspective.

[image error] photo credit: kodomut

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Post © Dana Huff

Ad-Supported Kindle