On all Kindle Fire models being ad-supported

Jacob Penderworth -

Update: Amazon is now saying that they will offer an ad-free experience for a one-time fee of $15. Jon Brodkin of Ars Technica notes:

But just now, we received confirmation from Amazon that it has decided to let customers pay $15 to opt out of the ads. "With Kindle Fire HD there will be a special offers opt-out option for $15," an Amazon spokesperson told Ars. "We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out. We're happy to offer customers the choice."
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]mazon's new line of Kindle Fires are impressive, to say the least. Regardless of the smaller HD model holding the "world's most advanced 7" tablet" title, the fleet has better WiFi reception with dual antennas, faster processors, and a special anti-glare technology on their displays, which is unique and desired by many. Unfortunately, the tablets have one major downside: they're ad-supported, meaning that Amazon can make sure you purchase more from them using their device. At first, it was assumed that the online superstore would allow to unsubscribe from offers, or pay more for the device like with the Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite. However, Amazon has told CNET and The Verge that there is in fact no way to opt out of these "Special Offers".

I understand that Amazon is charging a small fee for the power that these devices hold, but there should be an option to pay more to go ad-free. Even after purchasing the device, Amazon should give Prime members a clean experience. If that's not plausible, why not add a yearly fee for an ad-free experience? Hopefully Amazon sees that there's money here as well; I feel bad for customers if they don't.

As for the Special Offers themselves, what are they to be like? I hope they don't end up being popups that appear while you're doing casual browsing because that seems like a bit much. If they only appear on the lock screen, then that's fine, so long as they don't keep it on because that'll decrease battery life. This whole predicament is new territory for Amazon and I'm hoping they understand how many potential users they're losing.