AdKindle?

Amazon has announced a special new Kindle that will retail for $25 less than the current wifi-only version, and will have ads.

I really want to photoshop in a cool ad. And hey, look at the optical illusion!

The ads will only show up on the sleep screens and the menu, not in books. And they will also include special offers that *might* turn out to actually be useful, although I wouldn't count on it.

The reaction seems to be mixed, from "no big deal as long as they continue selling ad-free versions" to "NO NO IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD RUN AWAY!!" I'm in the no big deal camp, myself. If I hadn't been gifted this fantastic Kindle 1 by my grandmother-in-law I would certainly be considering the ad version if it meant I could get a Kindle faster.

There seems to be some speculation that the price may drop even further in the autumn, making them under $100 instead of the current strange price of $114. This would not surprise me.