Five months too late to do me and good, Amazon will start shipping an ad-supported version of their Kindle* eBook reader on May 3 for $114 (you can pre-order now).

They folks over at Ars Technica don't seem to think that cutting $25 off the price will be enough to induce a lot of people to go for the lower priced version. I disagree. I would have chosen that option if I didn't already have mine. ($25 off the $139 WiFi model is about 18% savings).

Is Enduring the Ads Really Worth $25?

With a lot of ad-supported products, the ads are annoying enough to be worth paying to get rid of. But on the new Kindle model, the ads are only displayed on the "screen saver" (the picture that's shown when you turn your Kindle off), and at the bottom of the screen when you're not reading a document.

If Amazon had kept ads on-screen while a book was displayed, that would have easily been worth paying $25 more to avoid. But the way they've implemented it, it looks like a winner to me. (For screenshots of what the ads look like, click here* and scroll down a little.)

Actually, It Wouldn't Have Saved Me Any Money

I have to quality my statement above by pointing out that I didn't buy my Kindle myself. I got it from my dad for Christmas (and it's been one of the best presents I've ever received -- I use it every single day). But if the new model had been available then, I would have asked for it to save my dad the money.

I don't think the ads will really harm the user experience -- but I guess that's just me. Take a look at the screen shots and let us know what you think.

* Disclosure: in case it affects your trust of my recommendation, the links in this post are my affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, I may earn a commission.