Round up #59: Pirate to prison, impressive impressions, Amazon predicts where you’ll go

Round up #59: Pirate to prison, impressive impressions, Amazon predicts where you’ll go

Kindle Fire mobile ad impressions

Well, this is going to make Amazon happy!

Kindle Fire mobile ad impressions are growing at 19 percent a day

That’s an article in ExtremeTech.

Here’s the key thing…other people than Amazon can track how many times we see web ads on our Kindle Fires. I dont’ know exactly how all of that works, but the bottom line is that lots and lots of people are getting “ad impressions” on the Kindle Fire. An “ad impression” just basically means that you’ve seen the ad.

Why is this good?

You want companies to want to sell things on the Fire. That may mean that the cost of the Kindle Fire can be lowered…even future Fires…by having it partially supported by ads.

Interesting stuff…I’d recommend you read the ad to see how it compares to the iPad.

Pirate gets a year in prison

We’ve talked about piracy in the blog before

https://ilmk.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/pirates-of-the-high-e-s/

In this context, pirates distribute copyrighted material without authorization.

Downloading the pirated material supports the pirates, but it’s the distribution which is really the crime.

Well, this

The Hollywood Reporter article

talks about a pirate who got a year in prison.

Yes, it’s for uploading a movie rather than a book, but the principle applies.

Just thought it was worth noting…pirates beware!

Amazon knows where you’ll go

I first ran across this one in the Popular Science feed in the Pulse app on my Kindle Fire.

This is also a bit peripheral to the Kindle, but I think it shows Amazon’s forward thinking ways.

Popular Science article

Here’s the basic idea…not only would Amazon use GPS or some other geolocator to know where you are, it would predict where you are going to go…and be able to sell that to advertisers.

Let’s say that many people always stop at Starbucks after they go bowling in a particular alley on Friday nights. Amazon figures that out…and before the bowler leaves, a coupon appears on their SmartPhone for that specific Starbucks.

It could also be tied into display systems (billboards) along the route.

Sound creepy?

When I’ve brought it up with people, the reaction so far has been very positive.

I can see how it could be very effective.

It takes a few years to get a patent…so this doesn’t mean that Amazon is immediately planning a bigger Kindle Fire with a GPS…but it is possible.

By the way, this could be based on demographics in addition to on your as an individual. Males in their twenties might see different ads than women in their sixties.

This kind of thing happens already. You know those ads in the mall that keep flipping to another ad? I understand that some of them do facial analysis to figure out your age and gender, and show you ads that they think are appropriate…

Updated Love Your Kindle Fire

I’ve asked Amazon a couple of times to offer an updated

Love Your Kindle Fire: The ILMK Guide to Amazon’s Entertablet

to people who bought it earlier. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’ll ask again. I’ve just updated it with information on the 6.2.1 update. That hasn’t finished the publishing process.

I’m going to try again to get them to offer it to you early buyers. 🙂

Believe it or not, they told they were busy with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) publishers from other countries…I presume it’s the time of year as well, but it surprises me that it’s the same staff doing all the KDP stuff.

What do you think? Is the pirate punishment too harsh? Will it not have any impact, because the pirates don’t think it will happen to them, or don’t even live in the USA? Are you worried about the ads you see on your Kindle Fire? Would you be willing to see ads on your Kindle Fire’s boot up screen if it saved you money? Feel free to let me know…

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.