Amazon Bets on Ad-Based Kindle

Tuesday, 12 April 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Amazon has a new idea for the Kindle.  If you agree to receive ads on your Kindle’s screen you get the e-reader at a slightly discounted price.  I’m not convinced that $25 is enough of a discount for the intrusion, though I wonder how many people will have remorse a few weeks in and offer to give Amazon back the $25 they paid initially to make the ads go away. Amazon is trying to avoid that scenario by allowing readers to choose the ad experience they want. Choices include ads with humor, ones that feature scenery or photography-heavy commercials. But really, an ad is an ad is an ad, isn’t it?

Regardless, it’s an intriguing proposition, one that I think could be successfully applied elsewhere. Like at movies. Who wouldn’t pay a dollar extra to skip all the previews and go straight to the movie? I definitely would. Even if I got to choose the previews that played, I’d pay for the novelty of having the movie start at its advertised time.

USA Today has all the details about the new ad-based Kindle, which will be released on May 3.

In the mean time, check it out on Amazon: Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6” Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology - includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers