So I’ve been enjoying my Kindle Fire for quite a while now. Especially since I travel a lot, having so many books at my fingertips seems to make the unruly airports, cramped plane seating, and tiring waits at restaurants a lot less, well, unruly, cramped, and tiring.
But I’ve stumbled onto something that makes my Kindle Fire even more awesome. No, not Jean-Luc Picard holding my Kindle Fire. Rather, something called Amazon Prime.
Amazon Prime is a subscription service Amazon offers for $79/year. Once a subscriber, you get the following:
- Free 2-day shipping on many items
- Free streaming of many Amazon videos
- Free borrowing of one kindle book a month from Amazon’s Lending Library.
So, here’s why, to me, Amazon Prime is such a sweet deal.
First, free 2-day shipping rocks. For years I’ve always chosen the free super-saver shipping and, well, for the most part I felt like I was getting a good deal. Free shipping is free shipping, right? Except that sometimes the items took a month to get to me, and sometimes they were lost, because Amazon evidently contracts with the smaller, local shipping companies to get you the “super-saver” shipping bargain and, well, you get what you pay for. But free 2-day shipping is a new level of awesome. And, if I need something delivered the next day, Amazon only charges $3.99.
I think just this feature alone will be worth the $79/year.
Second, Amazon Prime gets you free streaming of many movies from Amazon’s Instant Video collection. Not all Amazon movies, but a lot of them.
For example, here’s a screenshot from my Kindle Fire of several of the free Amazon Prime movies that are currently popular:
I think the selection perhaps is not as broad as Netflix, but there are options you can’t get on Netflix, like Food, Inc.
In fact, after I finish typing this post, I’m going to watch Ocean’s Eleven. I just discovered it’s available for free via Amazon Prime. I’ve been waiting forever for it to come to Netflix streaming, but, that’s it, I’m done waiting.
Third, there are a lot of kindle books you can borrow for free via the Kindle Lending Library. For example, here’s a screenshot of the first several thrillers that are available to borrow for free:
As with the movies, not all books are available to borrow for free, but a large number of them are.
For example, here’s what I’d see if I selected On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, by Ian Fleming:
Note that the button “Borrow for Free” in this example is grayed-out—that’s because I’m currently borrowing another book, but I’ll be able to borrow this one, or another, at the end of the month.
So, to me, Amazon Prime is a pretty good deal if you regularly buy stuff from Amazon. But if you also have a Kindle Fire, you can borrow books and watch movies too, so that’s what makes the Kindle Fire plus Amazon Prime combo so powerful.
Note that you can try Amazon Prime for free for 30 days, and if you are a student you get Amazon Prime free for six months, and if you are a new mom, you get it free for 3 months plus bargains on diapers, wipes, and other items.
Not a bad deal, I think. And it’s even better if you have a Kindle Fire.