How is that different from buying software for a computer? I can install a linux distribution or buy windows. It's the same hardware, different "feature flag". Somehow that's not crazy.

Since the time of IBM mainframes this business model had been known as the Golden Screwdriver.

Http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Golden%20Screwdriver

You can buy a kindle with ads for $50 or a kindle without for $70. I don't like the way all this is progressing.