This Kindle Brought To You By...

Amazon has made an interesting move and announced a discounted version of their popular Kindle e-reader. Prospective e-reader owners can now take advantage of a 17% discount and purchase one for $114.

The catch? The discounted device, called Kindle With Special Offers, is ad-supported.

That's right. If you spring for this particular Wi-Fi-only Kindle you will have to overlook ads on the screensaver and home page.

Personally I'm not a fan of this move, primarily for three reasons:

• The advantage of an e-reader over a laptop or desktop computer is to have that immersive experience that's more akin to a physical book. Having ads on the device (even though they apparently aren't going to appear in the books themselves) could be seen as intrusive and deter potential buyers.
• The price is only $25 less than the ad-free Kindle, which is not all that much. Granted, a 17% discount is respectable, but $25 may be a small price to pay for a lot of e-reader fans. Bottom line is the price point needs to be lower, and TechCrunch actually wrote up a great piece about the impact a $99 Kindle would have had. 
• From an advertisers' standpoint, I wonder how effective the ads can be if they're only on the home screen and screen savers, where the users will be spending little time paying attention to what's on the screen. 

All in all, it's a questionable move that would have been better if the price point was more appealing. 

However, my guess is that most people would just pay the $25 for a reading experience that doesn't include advertising.

What is helping Kindle succeed?

I know exactly 0 people who own a Kindle. A lot people I know probably have not even heard of it either. But it is succeeding.

A report came out last week that said Kindle is selling at a pace quicker than the first generation iPod. The rumors about Kindle 2 are spreading like wildfire today.

Why do you think Kindle is succeeding?

Here are some of the responses. Leave some more of your ideas below in the comments.

Amazon is Workin' the Word of Mouth

Amazon is banking heavily on sales of its digital book reader, Kindle. It is also hoping to acquire significant Word of Mouth through the 'See a Kindle in your City' program. The program allows Kindle owners and interested consumers to meet-up and give Kindle a try.

It is no doubt a good idea. Kindle runs for $359, so it is reasonable that consumers might want some hands-on experience with the device before they opt to buy it. Kindle also has a large amount of customer reviews with over 4,200.

Will Kindle truly take off?
I can't say for sure until I have actually tried one. It has some attractive features, such as free wifi and a non-glare screen. But do people really want to read books off a hand-held device? I remain skeptical. I think I could see myself reading short articles off such device, but a whole book would probably get old.

Read more about Kindle here.