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Amazon found itself in a bit of hot water with potential customers last week when it was revealed that new Kindle Fire tablets would ship with home screen ads on by default. The decision to not allow people to purchase a slightly more expensive model without “special offers” flew in the face of the companies pre-existing policies, and represented yet another shift in the company’s ongoing razor and razor blade business model for digital media. In response to all the controversy, Amazon has quickly changed direction, and has agreed to scrap ads for a modest $15 fee.
"I wanted to let you know that with Kindle Fire HD there will be a special offers opt-out option for $15," the company said in a statement.
"We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out. We're happy to offer customers the choice."
Users won’t be able to order an ad free version in advance, rather they will be presented with the option to disable special offers after they setup the device. Were you among the angry masses bent out of shape over this?
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DocBogus
September 11, 2012 at 6:11pm
"...flew in the face of the companies pre-existing policies" - a possessive desguised as a plural?
The Cloud is getting fuzzier, noisier, darker... the spying and the ads are the natural consequence of connectivitis. Fridges will be shouting yogurt brands at your face in the morning before long.
loozer
September 09, 2012 at 3:52pm
It's a nice move. People who want to save money can see the ads, and people who don't like ads can get what they want. It's all about providing choice for consumers. There will probably be a root and bypass for free within time though.
pastorbob
September 09, 2012 at 2:57pm
I have a Kindle keyboard with WIFI that has the home screen offers locked in. Not a problem at all. They are not intrusive, and never show up while I am using the device. So what's the big deal? I think the people who get riled up over this are just a bunch of Don Quixote's. If only standard television (or HULU for the matter) would let me pay fifteen bucks to eliminate ads or better yet only show them between shows. We should be so lucky!
don2041
September 09, 2012 at 2:05pm
They want me to pay them not to force adds on me. I will never go near any product or software that uses this scheme. Pisses me off big time. Opt out option should be free. After all, they claim few people opt out.
Mortal_M
September 09, 2012 at 9:59pm
I'm not trying to defend Amazon, but what they are trying to do (in theory) is to sell the tablet as cheap as they can and adding adds would allow them to save $15 on every tablet and they pass the saving to you (so you buy the cheap tablet and not the more expensive ones from their competitors)
But yeah, I think the only time having adds is reasonable is when you are getting something for free (not really free per se) but as soon as you are shelling out money (especially the amount they are asking for the tablet) then there shouldn't be any adds
Joji
September 09, 2012 at 6:03pm
Any device is hackable. Just wait until the KindleFire is hackable, then we won't have to use 'em.
Heck, I can simply read books of my smartphone, or tablet. Same function, except it's a bit more bulkier and expensive if I break it...
