I've read a bunch of complaints (which I'm not going to bother looking up to point to now, because I really should be sleeping) about the fact that blogs cost money on Amazon's Kindle. For some reason, this seems to piss some people off—if they're free on the web, they should be free everywhere, and Bezos is a money-grubbing bastard. Or something. Goes the argument. I imagine.
To which I say: You're being silly.
Look, blogs aren't free anyway. You paid for your computer, and you're paying for your Internet access (or someone is). You paid for your iPhone, and you pay for your iPhone's Internet connection. You get blogs with the package.
If Amazon charged a monthly connection fee for the Kindle and made blogs free, instead, no one would complain (about the blog part). Because that's the pricing model they're used to.
What you're paying for if you subscribe to blogs on your Kindle is the convenience of the form factor. The same reason people buy print magazines that are free on the web. (Whether or not it is a convenience that's worth the money is another question.)
Frankly, this applies to them charging money for your personal documents (I think its $0.99), as well. Do you not pay for paper and ink if you print them?
So get over it. Stuff isn't free just because you're not reminded of the costs incrementally. And one pricing model is not morally superior to the other.
To which I say: You're being silly.
Look, blogs aren't free anyway. You paid for your computer, and you're paying for your Internet access (or someone is). You paid for your iPhone, and you pay for your iPhone's Internet connection. You get blogs with the package.
If Amazon charged a monthly connection fee for the Kindle and made blogs free, instead, no one would complain (about the blog part). Because that's the pricing model they're used to.
What you're paying for if you subscribe to blogs on your Kindle is the convenience of the form factor. The same reason people buy print magazines that are free on the web. (Whether or not it is a convenience that's worth the money is another question.)
Frankly, this applies to them charging money for your personal documents (I think its $0.99), as well. Do you not pay for paper and ink if you print them?
So get over it. Stuff isn't free just because you're not reminded of the costs incrementally. And one pricing model is not morally superior to the other.