Amazon's Kindle: Your fat personal docs aren't cheap

Amazon on May 4 will start charging by the megabyte for personal files sent to individual Kindles. 

Kindle has a feature where you can send personal docs (Word files, pictures, Web pages etc.) over its wireless network. The old fee was 10 cents per send. In a blog post, Amazon said it will start charging by the megabyte. 

We have also modified the fee associated with sending personal documents wirelessly to your Kindle. This fee is now based on the size of your file. The fee for Personal Document Service (via Whispernet) is 15 cents per megabyte rounded up to the next whole megabyte. 

You can still send documents to your Amazon email for free at "name"@free.kindle.com" or download the docs from a PC via a USB cable.

 

What's it all mean? My read is that Amazon's wireless costs aren't a trivial matter. Amazon is more than willing to front the wireless cost when you buy a book because the margins are there. But there were enough Kindle users sending fat personal documents at 10 cents a pop that Amazon noticed its wireless bill with Sprint. It's unclear, however, how many Kindle users are actually using the device for personal documents. I'm not a good test case since I'm a Kindle reader and never used the feature.

If you're busy putting personal docs on your Kindle this remains the most cost effective way to transfer: