Could Amazon Introduce Ad-Supported Free Kindle?

In case you haven’t been paying attention, a lot of people have been talking about the idea of free ad-supported iPhone since Apple applied for a patent for a technology that forces users to interact with ads on electronics such as mp3 players, smart-phones, and beyond. This new piece of technology will lock up a device until its user does a click or answers a question. The idea of ad-supported gadgets is nothing new. With the economy struggling to bounce back, companies are looking for more ways to offer more affordable products to their prospects without reducing features. Introducing ad-supported gadgets can certainly be a way out for product manufacturers such as Apple. But could it work for Amazon as well?

We all know how Amazon Kindle owners responded when it was revealed that the company was investing the idea of in-book ads. Some people seem to like the ideas while others rather not use a Kindle than see an ad in their books, even if it means they save money in the process. We still don’t have too many details on how these companies would go about implementing advertising on their gadgets, but Apple’s approach seems to be more intrusive and inconvenient for the users. But if you are getting a device for free, you may as well help the manufacturer pay for it in the long run.

Can the idea of ad-supported Kindles work? It may if Amazon goes about implementing it the right way. As long as ads are not taking away from the users’ overall experience on Kindle, there is no reason Amazon can’t test the idea out. I personally don’t like the idea of in-book ads. At the same time, one can get used to the idea of viewing ads in the beginning or at the end of each book. You can also view one ad every-time you start your Kindle. That could be annoying but you can’t complain if you are getting your Kindle for free.

There are a lot of purists who can’t even fathom the idea of watching ads on Amazon Kindle. But Amazon needs to grow the Kindle platform, and there is no easier way to do that by giving away the hardware. If the ads can help pay for it, the least Amazon could do is give us consumers the option to choose — pay for the device and disable ads or choose the other option. The idea of offering free Kindle is too explosive for Amazon to ignore. Will Amazon implement it? That’s hard to say. The company has explored the idea of ads on the platform, but the platform needs some work before it can display dynamic ads from advertisers. In fact, Amazon will need to work on an advertising platform for Kindle to even explore the idea. The idea is certainly worth a try.

Your take: would you consider watching ads on your Kindle each day if it helped pay for the device or your e-books?