As an Amazon Prime user, I really hope this happens. Free Kindle -> eBay/Craigslist -> cheaper iPad
Not to mention that just by giving it away, they are increasing the likelihood of price drops for the iPad.
Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
31–40 of 54 posts
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Prime really does pay for itself. I ordered enough on Amazon before getting prime that it was a no brainer. Amazon is also very generous about letting you share your prime subscription with family members. I already read quite a few books on my iPhone(Kindle app, and Stanza) so I would probably end up paying for a Kindle in book purchases over the life of the device. Seems like a win-win.
"Amazon is also very generous about letting you share your prime subscription with family members." Yes. I invented three step-brothers with whom I share my membership. Effective cost is $20/household/year.
Do the family members have to live in the same household as you for this to work (disregarding the ToS)?
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#33Considering that kindle customers do not own the books they buy, Amazon's kindle will be Free as free first dose of cocaine.
Just like with libraries? I buy books for a few hours of enjoyment. After I've read them, they just sit on a shelf and collect dust. Because most people are like this, the Kindle is not a poor value proposition. Even if you were only allowed to read the book exactly once, it would still be a better value (in terms of hours of time spent per dollar spent) than many things, like seeing a movie. Everyone hates DRM, but…
I mostly agree with you, but with one exception: I'm a bit of a history buff, and I'm not altogether looking forward to a future where all of the history texts are alterable, and nobody owns previous copies.
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#34That's nice of them but will anyone still be using this when the iPad drops??
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#35That's nice of them but will anyone still be using this when the iPad drops??
I'd certainly use a free Kindle over a $500 iPad.
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#36Considering that kindle customers do not own the books they buy, Amazon's kindle will be Free as free first dose of cocaine.
That's only the case for content purchased through the Kindle store. You're completely free to put content from other sources on the device, and Amazon actually goes to great lengths to make this as simple as possible: Beyond appearing as a USB mass storage device, every Kindle has a unique email address. Send a document to that address and it's instantly delivered over "whispernet" to the device.
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Amazon is also very generous about letting you share your prime subscription with family members." Yes. I invented three step-brothers with whom I share my membership. Effective cost is $20/household/year.
Do the family members have to live in the same household as you for this to work (disregarding the ToS)?
I have about 8 friends that use my Prime account. Only caveat is they all have to trust each other not to use someone else's stored CC info :P
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Amazon is also very generous about letting you share your prime subscription with family members." Yes. I invented three step-brothers with whom I share my membership. Effective cost is $20/household/year.
Do the family members have to live in the same household as you for this to work (disregarding the ToS)?
No, I have my account with 4 other people at 3 different addresses, it works just fine. Keep in mind all of these people are in the same city, though...
[edit] Note for other post: you don't have to share actual accounts - you can invite people to share prime membership; they will use their own account to do their own shopping but still get the same perks.
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#39Considering that kindle customers do not own the books they buy, Amazon's kindle will be Free as free first dose of cocaine.
Just like with libraries? I buy books for a few hours of enjoyment. After I've read them, they just sit on a shelf and collect dust. Because most people are like this, the Kindle is not a poor value proposition. Even if you were only allowed to read the book exactly once, it would still be a better value (in terms of hours of time spent per dollar spent) than many things, like seeing a movie. Everyone hates DRM, but…
I buy books to put them on my shelf so that other people can see how smart I am. Only half joking - my bookshelf does start a lot of conversations, and I often lend out books to friends. It's going to be a long time before I'm going to plunk down cash for electronic-only versions of books. I do however often choose technical books that come with a PDF version free over other books on the same subject (e.g., Manning Publications)
Re: Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers
#40That's a brilliant rumour.