Target carrying KSO: CNET giving one away
Target, which has been carrying Kindles, is apparently going to carry the new
as well. That’s the $114 wi-fi only model, where you agree to get ads and special offers on it (for more on the first special offer, see this previous post).
To promote this, CNET is giving one away:
You comment the article to be in the drawing, and you can only comment once.
There are 1,404 comments at the time of writing.
Who wants a Kindle with advertising on it?
There are more than a thousand answers for you. 
Thanks to Peter Craine in the Amazon Kindle community for the heads-up on this one.
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.
May 7, 2011 at 5:47 am |
Here’s the email I sent to amazon.com Re: Advertisements on My Kindle:
I am appalled and disheartened at Amazon’s announcement about linking ads to the Kindle. I selected the Kindle, a dedicated eBook reader, over other devices because it most closely mirrored the reading of physical books, that is, it had no distractions like advertisements, cell phone use, emails, etc. I selected Amazon because of my belief that Amazon understood books; besides, I’ve been a loyal Amazon customer for at least 10 years. Your new ad -supported Kindle has made me feel differently about Amazon and has changed me from an intensely loyal Amazon customer, to a person who will now look at alternatives in all areas of Internet purchasing I used to reserve exclusively for Amazon.
I understand the initial limited nature of ads on the Kindle. I also remember how the airlines started their hated fees by applying them only to second checked bags. Amazon has an undisclosed plan for enlarging ads on Kindle, I’m sure, but I also have a plan:
Step 1. The first time an ad appears on my Kindle, I’m going to toss the Kindle out. The reason I haven’t bought the 3G Kindle, and will not buy any future models, is that I’ve been aware for some time now that, due to the introduction of ads, I might move away from the Kindle at some time in the future.
Step 2. I will buy another dedicated eBook reader, possibly the Nook, provided it rejects linking advertisements to the Nook.
Step 3. If there are no dedicated eBook readers available on the market, which do not have ads, I will move to a tablet computer like iPad2, which has received high reviews for its eBook-reading capability. And—
Step 4. If all else fails, I’ll return to reading physical books. That wasn’t so bad before the Kindle and I can easily revert back.
Howard N. Singer
Bangkok, Thailand
May 7, 2011 at 12:53 pm |
Thanks for writing, Buzz!
I appreciate you sharing that with me, and I suspect some others agree with you.
However, there is no indication that Amazon will put ads on Kindles for people who don’t want them. This is an option…and my guess is, many more people are attracted by getting a lower price in exchange for the ads than are repelled by it. When you speak of alternatives, that’s what this offers…an alternative.
I assume you don’t read magazines, watch broadcast TV, go to stadium events, go to the movies, or ride public transit? Those are all ad-supported…at least, in the USA they are.
As to your plan:
1. It depends on how you define ads. Does the Amazon logo on the front of the device already make it an ad? Does a list of other books in a series represent an ad? How about the new “before you go” information in the back of the book that lists other books? What about product placement in books…that happens, that a company will pay to have a product mentioned in a book. I addressed the idea of ads actually in books in this post http://ilmk.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/advertising-in-e-books/
2. I would be absolutely astounded if people adopt advertising-support so strongly that Amazon decides it isn’t worth having an option…and every other similarly-priced EBR (E-Book Reader) doesn’t do the same. I suppose it could be like premium cable TV…you could pay $25 a month not to have the ads, or something like that. Maybe an ad-supported EBR would be $50 and an ad-free one would be $250. I find it unlikely that there won’t be an option for an ad-free before it got to that level…I don’t think the adoption will be that strong. I think people will buy ones with and without, and both will still have a arket.
3. It’s certainly possible the iPad 2 would also be ad-supported by the time what you suggest could happen happens. I haven’t seen great reviews of reading on the iPad 2, though…at least, not comparing it to reading on a reflective screen device like the Kindle or the NOOK Classic.
4. I’m glad you can afford paperbooks and don’t have any of the physical limitations that many have. EBRs have restored the ability to read to many people who couldn’t see the font in inexpensive paperbooks (such as mass market paperbooks) or had debilitating conditions that kept them from holding large books (like Harry Potter). I think in the future you will have fewer choices in paperbooks and they will become considerably more expensive. Paper is a luxury and will become increasingly so, in my opinion. My guess in the Kindle store is that independent books are already being added at at least twice the rate of traditionally published books…and many of the former have no paperbook edition. One scenario I’ve suggested is that new hardback novels could cost $50 within about five years.
While I certainly think you’ve expressed an opinion that some others share, I think more people accept advertising in their lives than don’t. Fortunately, at this point, you have a choice…and so do people who want/need the lower price.
May 20, 2011 at 6:12 am |
I’m very flattered that you would take the time to consider what I wrote about ads on Kindle, and respond to me in such detail. I certainly agree with much of what you said. As far as the future of the eBook industry, and what alternatives readers will have, it is quite clearly in a state of transition and I’m sure it will take years for things to work themselves out for us readers to know what alternatives we have and at what prices. As for me, I don’t want ads anywhere near my books and I’m unalterably opposed to adulterating my reading experience with the ads de jour.
Having said that, please know that I do accept ads in some contexts and not in others. I still subscribe to two daily newspapers and I enjoy reading the ads. The same goes for magazines. As for TV, basically I’ve stopped watching TV except for programs that I record on my PC hard drive and replay while fast-forwarding through the commercial interruptions. I simply value my time too much to do otherwise. I want maximum value for my temporal buck, so to speak. Of course, I realize that mine is a minority opinion. The outrage, indeed hysteria, which occurred when some Kindle book prices began to exceed $9.99, indicated to me that as long as there was some money to be saved, people would snap up the cheaper Kindle, as appears, unsurprisingly, to be happening. Yes, I do have sufficient money to buy hard cover books when I want them, but the fact of the matter is that most of the books I’ve bought both before and after owning a Kindle, are used books which are abundant at practically give-away prices on the Internet, as you well know. Also, I still go to the library.
As for Amazon giving me a choice of Kindle with or without ads, I don’t see it as a choice, or if it is, it is an elusive choice. What it is an additional cost to me. I think I know what a real choice looks like, and here are its dimensions: A Kindle with ads or a Kindle without ads, both at the same price, with the reader to decide (make a choice) which one he would like to own. If the Amazon publicity it correct that many people like ads and see them as a service, then Amazon should not have any difficulty in marketing both devices at the same price. Regardless, even if we are uncertain what a true choice is, no one is uncertain about the meaning of a bribe. I, for one, cannot be bribed away from my opposition to eBook ads to allow my experience of the world of books to be intruded upon.
Please understand that I appreciate the value of eBook readers in my life and their popularity indicates that many others do as well. If I didn’t care about them, I would not subscribe to your very excellent blog “I Love My Kindle,” nor would I have taken the time to write to Amazon.com about the new ad policy (an email which was never acknowledged) and to write again you.
My original email was prompted by your question asking your readers if the ad policy changed how we felt about Amazon.com. When you posed the question, I realized that my attitude to Amazon had changed and that, when it is time for me to buy my next eBook device, I will examine alternatives to the Kindle, and I only hope that I will have appropriate enough choices, and at a reasonable cost, to have the reading experience I desire. However, as you pointed out, the choices I wish to have may not be available as the industry develops, in which case, as in life in general, I’ll make compromises, or stick to my principles of avoiding ads, in the same way as you stick to your principles in the text/talk option.
Howard “Buzz” Singer
Bangkok, Thailand
May 21, 2011 at 1:08 pm |
Thanks for writing, Buzz!
I’m the one that’s honored when people write me. Engaging in “conversations” through the comments like this is one of the greatest benefits to me of doing the blog, especially when they are well-written and well thought out as yours are.
Readers engage with another person’s thoughts. I think it’s one reason why people who read a lot tend to be more mentally flexible. In a case like this, it’s not just engagement, it’s interaction.
I do see the choice as a real one:
Pay $139 and you don’t have ads and special offers
or
pay $114 and agree to see them.
It isn’t a choice of do you want ads or not. It’s a choice of whether you will accept ads in exchange for a lower initial price.
That’s not an exchange you want to right now, and I think that’s fine. It will be interesting to see what happens as things go forward.