kindlefrontgraphite2[1]Late news out of Amazon: Apparently annoyed by Barnes & Noble getting so much press today, Amazon decided to issue a late (after 7 p.m.!) press release in which it announced a 3G version of Kindle with Special Offers, the ad-supported version of the Kindle that knocks $25 off list price. So rather than $189, Kindle with Special Offers can be had for $164.

Amazon claims that the Wi-Fi Kindle with Special Offers is its best-selling Kindle yet, which suggests this one might soon follow. I’m a little skeptical that knocking $25 off the price is really worth having to view ads on menu pages for as long as you own the device, but I’m sure there will be some people out there who this discount offer convinces to pull the trigger on the purchase.

I wonder if there will ever be a Kindle DX with Special Offers?

(Found via eBookNewser, CNet.)

6 COMMENTS

  1. It’s not my thing (I want my reading space Free of Ads) but people like the special offers that come along with the ads (which aren’t seen while reading books). I have a list of the type of offers that have been on the WiFi-Only adKindle, at http://bit.ly/kwk3gso

    B&N are not offering 3G at all anymore for their current e-ink Nook. I’m sure they found it too expensive to provide even for just book downloads in their case (unlike free web-lookups internationally with the 3G Kindle.

  2. The one thing I dislike about my Kindle is that it’s such a pain to personalize. I will say the ads look nicer than the built in ones, but I would need a lot more than $25 off to buy a Kindle with them. In fact one of the reasons that I haven’t upgraded to the K3 is that it would be such a hassle to install the hack to get personalized screen savers.

    The new Nook looks very attractive. I’m going to be very tempted. I bought a Nook Color for children’s books and Angry Birds. I didn’t like the old Nook. It was heavier than the Kindle and the interface was slow and clunky. I also wasn’t very pleased with B & N’s ebook store interface. If they’ve improved ordering and customer service at B & N since I last tried it, I may make the switch.

  3. I never understood the logic of taking a one-time discount off of the device in exchange for ads. Amazon ought to be discounting the books in exchange for ads… that’s something that consumers could really appreciate.

    Oh, well… one of the reasons I don’t have a Kindle.

  4. Lame, Who in the world, having $164 to spend on a Kindle, would not pay $25 more to avoid ads.

    Now if they made a barebones Kindle that was free but had ads, that would make sense and be a huge hit. I actually expect something like this before too long for Amazon Prime members.

  5. The more I see Amazon getting into bed with ads the more I think I need to cut my losses and switch to a new device. I’m not sure what future plans Amazon has for Kindles and ebooks, but they need to leave out ads if they want to keep me as a customer.

  6. I recently purchased my wife the $114.00 Kindle 3 (I purchased the $139.00 version several months ago.). In all ways, except for the ad on the sleep page and home page, the devices work the same.

    The ads are not obtrusive and in some cases improve on the dead authors sleep page. In addition, a couple of the ads provide real value (Purchase a $20.00 gift card for $10.00.).

    Each to their own but, the $25.00 savings buys more books!

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