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Free Kindle This November

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Re: Free Kindle This November

#51

Post by jonknee »

kjhghj wrote: post #46
joshkaufman wrote: post #7

A classic loss leader strategy. Given how much Amazon Prime increases Amazon purchase behavior, this makes all sorts of sense if the cost per unit goes down enough. Details about how Amazon Prime affects purchasing behavior: http://www.quora.com/Who-invented-Amazon-Prime-What-impact-h...

Plus with another few million kindles out there you approach some newspapers about a special kindle subscription deal

Amazon already has Kindle subscriptions for a lot of newspapers. Not just ones with national appeal like the New York Times, but ones like the Atlanta Journal Constitution, St. Petersburg Times, and San Jose Mercury News. Overall they have 160 papers worldwide, with 97 of those in the US.

http://amzn.to/fVMoIU

Re: Free Kindle This November

#52

Post by callmeed »

This is a great example of something that has perplexed me for a long time in my own businesses:

How do you drastically lower the price of something (or make it free) without pissing off all the previous customers?

Re: Free Kindle This November

#54

Post by jonknee »

w1ntermute wrote: post #45
philwelch wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$79/yr is $6.60/mo, which is less than Netflix's streaming-only plan and includes free 2-day shipping on Amazon products.

Prime is great if you're going to use the free 2-day shipping feature, but Amazon streaming is horrible IIRC. It uses Flash, and I'm guessing doesn't have the selection Netflix does.

It's not all bad. If you use Linux for example, their use of Flash allows you to use the service.

Re: Free Kindle This November

#55

Post by bricestacey »

w1ntermute wrote: post #45
philwelch wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$79/yr is $6.60/mo, which is less than Netflix's streaming-only plan and includes free 2-day shipping on Amazon products.

Prime is great if you're going to use the free 2-day shipping feature, but Amazon streaming is horrible IIRC. It uses Flash, and I'm guessing doesn't have the selection Netflix does.

Amazon has recent movies, though. For example, I watched District 9 through Amazon On Demand in Jan/Feb 2010. That's 5-6 months after it was released.

Most Netflix Streaming titles are something you'd find on VHS in your mom's basement.

Re: Free Kindle This November

#56

Post by jrwoodruff »

drawkbox wrote: post #32
jrwoodruff wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Studies have shown the kindle is not robust enough for most classroom settings. Lack of note taking, slow page turning, etc. slowed down classes and caused students to eventually print out assignments: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/201... http://www.fastcompany.com/1727292/apple-ipad-officially-pas...

I pretty much agree with that and prefer my iPad for those types of things. But the Kindle will evolve and just the thought of getting away from the textbook fix would be nice. If Amazon Kindles were starting to appear in schools, iPads and Apple would be right there. Apple has always been good about getting computers into schools. The textbook industry got so crazy that most kids have TWO of each now because they ne…

That is a good point about the note-taking. I was thinking in context of higher ed, but high school/middle school... maybe it would work.

Although I will say I do remember kids taking notes in pencil in the margins.

Also - two textbooks? seriously? I can't imagine any school springing for that added expense, or even parents for that matter.

Re: Free Kindle This November

#57

Post by pmcginn »

whyaorta wrote: post #41
moultano wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EPUB is not a competing DRM scheme. It's the standard for virtually every other reader and store, and the kindle doesn't support it.

Conversion between (DRM-free) EPUB and MOBI is pretty much trivial. It's a pain, but it's hardly a problem.

Download Calibre to manage your ebooks. It makes conversion pretty much transparent, and with the right plugins you can set it up to remove the DRM from the books you purchase.

Re: Free Kindle This November

#60

Post by thematt »

bricestacey wrote: post #55
w1ntermute wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prime is great if you're going to use the free 2-day shipping feature, but Amazon streaming is horrible IIRC. It uses Flash, and I'm guessing doesn't have the selection Netflix does.

Amazon has recent movies, though. For example, I watched District 9 through Amazon On Demand in Jan/Feb 2010. That's 5-6 months after it was released. Most Netflix Streaming titles are something you'd find on VHS in your mom's basement.

District 9 is available on Netflix as well.
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