If you are looking for a cheaper or discounted eBook reader? Well you wont have to look any farther than Amazon. The online retailer has just announced that they will be selling an ad-subsidized Kindle for $114 USD starting next month.
What exactly does that mean? Well Amazon has promised that the ads will not interfere with the user’s actual reading experience, but instead ads will appear on the Kindle’s screen saver and a banner on the homepage. Doesn’t sound that bad to me, if your trying to be a bit savvy, then a $25 discount would seem pretty good.
I might be one of the few that think so. A lot of experts and industry insiders think this is a bad idea on Amazon’s part. Actually some think it’s the beginning of the end for the eReader. With the rise of the iPad and other competing eReaders like the Android powered NOOK, some big pressure has been put on Amazon. If you think about it, the eReader has lasted longer than expected. The recent closings of the brick and mortar bookstore, Borders, shows the destructive power of the eBook.
This new generation of Kindle will be called Kindle with Special Offers. It’s identical in all ways to the current $139 WiFi Kindle, except for the obvious ads. So far there are some big names on board, including General Motors, Procter & Gamble and Visa. We will have to see on May 3rd, when it goes on sale at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy, how this subsidized Kindle will fair.
Other deals from yesterday’s Amazon press release:
- $10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
- $6 for 6 Audible Books (normally $68)
- $1 for an album in the Amazon MP3 Store (choose from over 1 million albums)
- $10 for $30 of products in the Amazon Denim Shop or Amazon Swim Shop
- Free $100 Amazon.com Gift Card when you get an Amazon Rewards Visa Card (normally $30)
- Buy one of 30 Kindle bestsellers with your Visa card and get $10 Amazon.com credit
- 50% off Roku Streaming Player (normally $99)
[via All Things Digital]
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