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All New Kindle Fire Tablets are ad-supported

How did Amazon get such low price points on the new Fire tablets? JR Rafael points out something in the fine print:

Special Offers

The new Kindle Fire family comes with special offers that appear on the lock screen. Examples of special money-saving offers that customers will enjoy include a $5 credit in the Amazon MP3 Store and a $5 credit for select titles in the Amazon Instant Video Store. Customers will also receive special offers and screensavers from brands like AT&T, Discover and Intel, such as a special offer of a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card when a customer uses their Discover card to purchase a digital product on Amazon.

Translation: All these new devices are basically ad-supported.

That is interesting because Bezos also said:

Amazon wants to make money when people use its products. If someone puts it in a desk drawer, Amazon deserves nothing.

Frankly—if ads pay for some of the cost of delivering a solid device at super aggressive price points, then good for Amazon. My biggest question is: Of all the companies in the world, why is Google not doing this?

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