[0xffff2]

Sure, that's basically how Kindle pricing works ($X with ads, or $X+$Y without ads) and it's infinitely better having the choice. If Amazon ever gets rid of the without ad version they will lose me as a customer overnight.

Likewise, there are a whole lot of products that don't have an "unsubsidized" version that I simply refuse to purchase (or have purchased and returned after confirming that they will not work when locked in IOT jail where they can't talk to the internet.)

[ChrisMarshallNY]

> If Amazon ever gets rid of the without ad version they will lose me as a customer overnight.

A couple of years ago, I subscribed to Peacock Premium (or whatever it was called). The selling point was access to all their library.

At that time, it was ad-free.

It is now packed with ads, and they want me to upgrade to “Peacock Squeal Like A Pig,” or whatever they call it.

Instead, I just canceled my subscription, and avoid any Peacock stuff, which isn’t difficult. They don’t have much I want to see.

I have a friend who pirates everything. I have always believed in paying for my media, but it’s become such a clusterfuck, that I can sympathize.

[opan]

I would encourage you to partake in sharing files with your neighbor, and on the occasion you feel strongly you want to support something, get that subscription for a month or buy some merch or similar to show you really appreciate what you watched.

[gausswho]

It's what we've come to. If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't theft. And in a market where data theft is built into the price, well... you are the one to set the price and the recipient of who you deem deserves it.

[bragr]

>If Amazon ever gets rid of the without ad version they will lose me as a customer overnight.

Didn't they already remove the option for a completely ad free prime video experience or am I hallucinating that? They have such a ridiculous hold on the e reader market I feel like it is just matter of the next down quarter.

[morsch]

They seem to own 75% of the market, and I think you can get pretty much every book on every device, right? Of course your existing library is locked-in; ideally, that'd be illegal.

[Xelbair]

Worse - they actually can remove books that you've purchased. Not only revoke license for future downloads - but actually remove them from your device.

Ironically they did that to 1984 book.

[jagged-chisel]

The “good news” is you can get a refund for titles that are removed. But you have to ask for it.

[deafpolygon]

Will they adjust it for "inflation" before refunding?

[LeafItAlone]

Does it actually make a difference? I have an old Kindle (from 2013 I think) and I opted for the ad version. I only see ads on the lock screen, which means I never really read the ads. The few times I’ve looked at them intentionally, they were books I’d never consider reading, just from the title and cover; in other words, a terrible ad for the recipient.

Does the ad-free version not collect your data too?

[0xffff2]

I don't actually care if they collect my data in that particular case. There's really nothing of significance that Amazon gets from my reading habits that it Visa doesn't already get from my purchasing the book in the first place.

I care if I see ads, even if I "don't read them". And when it comes to other devices, like IP security cameras I might care a lot more about whether the manufacturer has access to the device once it's set up.

My goal was just to point out that there is at least one existing case where you can pick between a subsidized and unsubsidized (or less subisdized if you prefer) product, and having the choice is strictly better than not having the choice.

[autoexec]

> I don't actually care if they collect my data in that particular case. There's really nothing of significance that Amazon gets from my reading habits that it Visa doesn't already get from my purchasing the book in the first place.

Visa knows you bought a book. That's all they know. Amazon knows that you actually read the book (or didn't), how long it took you to read the book, how many times you read it, every date/time when you opened it, what specific pages you flip to and re-read later, etc. Maybe you consider that data to be "nothing of significance", but Amazon doesn't see it that way. They spend a lot of time and money collecting, storing, and analyzing that data and it isn't because they didn't think it's worth anything.