If you’ve ever found yourself halfway through Moby-Dick but wondering what new sedan General Motors wants you to buy at that very moment, you’re in luck! Amazon announced today that it has begun shipping its ad-supported Kindle, a week ahead of the previously-announced May 3 ship date.
In exchange for ads from GM, Visa and others, Amazon has dropped the Kindle price by twenty five bucks, from $139 to $114. (Really, guys? You couldn’t push that down to a nice, symmetrical $99?) The e-commerce behemoth also promises the adverts won’t intrude on the reading experience, according to Engadget. Instead, a few words from their sponsors will take the place of the current batch of automatically-generated screensavers … well, that and a small banner ad at the bottom of the screen.
No word yet on whether Amazon will offer some sort of upgrade to allow current Kindle users to make the switch in exchange for rebates or the like; Amazon will also continue to sell the standard, non-ad-supported Kindle.
