Yesterday Amazon took the wraps off of a trio of new Kindle Fire tablets, and in the company's press release announcing the devices, it revealed that the Fires would display "Special Offers" ads on their lock screens. Amazon has done something similar in the past with their E Ink Kindles, but on those products users could pay an extra fee to remove the ads. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Kindle Fire owners will be given the same opportunity. An Amazon support representative told Engadget earlier today that users would be able to pay to remove the ads, but now Amazon has clarified the situation, telling both Engadget and CNET that there are will not be a method for Fire owners to disable the ads.
As mentioned before, Amazon has been adding Special Offers ads to its E Ink Kindles in the past, so it's not a total surprise that the company decided to extend them to its new Kindle Fire models as well. What is interesting is that unlike with the E Ink Kindles, Amazon doesn't offer a more expensive, ad-free Kindle Fire and apparently isn't planning to allow users to opt-out of the ads either. While some folks likely won't mind the ads since they're on the lock screen, I'm sure that there are others that'd at least like the option to avoid having to view the ads at all. It's certainly possible that Amazon could change its mind later on and implement a way to disable the ads, but for now anyone interested in one of the new Kindle Fires ought to keep the Special Offers in mind. What do you all think of Amazon's decision? Does the inability to remove the ads on the new Fires change your opinion about them?
- Log in to post comments