A free Kindle? Unlikely unless you like ads

Amy Gahran over at CNN says Amazon would be smart to give away the Kindle. Wrong!

Although I agree with much of what Gahran writes, Amazon is extremely unlikely to simply hand out Kindles without some form of exchange. And that’s the point.

It's one thing for Amazon to say, "Here's a free Kindle" and quite another for them to say, "Buy $99 worth of books and a Kindle is yours." Or to provide an ad-supported version at a discounted price.

Free ruins the medium- and long-term value of most products. Just ask the recorded music industry.

Anyhow, no free Kindles.