(the large e-ink one), Amazon is running a weird deal until Father's day. The Kindle DX by itself is $379, but if you buy it with the official Kindle cover
, the price drops to $299.I find this kind of deals fascinatingly innumerate -- why would any one buy the Kindle by itself? Why doesn't Amazon simply give a discount on the device instead of applying the discount only if you also buy the cover? Don't they essentially lose money on the covers? It can't be advertising for the cover (the razor-blade analogy) because most people buy a cover only once.
Of course, Amazon is probably not doing this without a reason -- it's probably a price discrimination scheme. But what does the scheme discriminate for? People in a hurry vs. cautious buyers? People who read the product page vs. people who don't? People who can do math vs. people who can't? People who are willing to throw away a cover they need vs. people who won't want to waste it?
Perhaps the cover does irreparable damage to the kindle, forcing the purchaser to buy another one within a few months? Might be bad business, but makes perfect economic sense, as long as there's a monopoly within the kindle business. Or, maybe they just know fathers need a break from reality now and then.
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