Welcome to Midweek (usually Monday) Ebooks, in which the Editrix indulges her most harmless delight in electronic books and gadgets with which to read them.

It’s been an exciting few weeks in ebook land! Prices of devices are dropping and new ebook readers are coming out from the top players. First Amazon announced a new model of the Kindle–the same (really nice) device as the current Kindle, with only a wifi radio, but bargain-priced at $114. The caveat: one must accept ads and special offers shown as screensavers while the device is in “sleep” mode.

Observers of the ebook industry have long predicted the rise of ad-supported ebooks–perhaps even free ebooks supported by ads, an idea that has been received with mostly suspicion and disgust by actual readers. However, it can be argued that Amazon’s approach at least isn’t very intrusive–the ads/special offers only appear while the reader is in sleep mode, not while one is actually reading; and some of the special offers are actually desirable coupons, the same sort of thing one might receive from Groupon (here’s a list of some of the more attractive offers). Continue reading