Amazon Just Cheapened The Kindle Fire HD With Pervasive Ads

Commentary | When a customer buys a piece of electronics, they can easily get pissed off when virus scan programs, system updates, and other windows start popping up all over the place. Now imagine purchasing that same piece of electronics and discovering it has ads you can’t remove. Essentially, you just paid money for an electronic billboard. Well, folks, that is exactly what Amazon just did with the Amazon Kindle Fire HD.

It is no secret that Amazon sold the original Kindle Fire for less than the cost of production, selling applications, books, and other products to Kindle Fire customers in order to make up the difference. On Thursday, the company announced that it would still use the same type of money making system but would now also feature ads on the lock screen and a link URL in the bottom left hand corner of the devices home screen display.

This is not the first time Amazon had placed “special offers” ads on devices, but, in the past, they were relegated to low cost Kindle devices with the option to pay an addition $20 to remove the ads, a payment that doesn’t appear to be available for the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD product.

It apparently won’t matter what Amazon Fire HD tablet users choose to purchase; for example, the 7-inch tablet will feature the same ads as the built-in 4G model.

The Kindle Fire HD will likely feature many options that users will enjoy just as the Kindle Fire did when it debuted. On the other hand, turning a modern day tablet into a glorified electronic billboard, something the ad happy Google doesn’t even do on Android tablets, is a stupid move. Even if effective, the ads immediately cheapen the feel of the tablet, and that is not a smart branding choice for the future of Amazon devices.