If you don’t mind being blasted with ads every now and then, Amazon has a Kindle deal you can’t refuse.
The online retailer is offering the lowest-priced Kindle ever, making the most basic version of the device available for $114. That’s a $25 cut from the standard $139 price tag.
In exchange for that immediate discount, though, you’ll be stuck with ads every time you use the device. Specifically, when the Kindle goes idle, instead of a traditional screen saver users will be presented with messages from various ad sponsors.
Additionally, the bottom of the Kindle’s home screen will display small advertisements as well. Where the device matters the most – when you’re in the process of reading a book – there will be no ads, thankfully.
“We are not interested in doing anything that interrupts the reading experience,” said Kindle VP Russ Grandinetti as quoted by PCMag.com.
Most of the ads, when clicked, will send an e-mail to the owner of the Kindle, although some offers will allow users to sign up directly from the Kindle.
So far, ad partners include Buick, Proctor & Gamble, Visa, and Audible.com. Amazon expects many more companies to get in on the act now that it is a publicly available platform.
$25 is not a huge chunk of money, but knocking it off the price of the lowest-end Kindle does make it ever so close to that all important impulse-buy target of $100.
The ad-supported Kindle, officially called Kindle with Special Offers, is now available for pre-order. The device will actually be available on May 3.
