Basically, the rest of the country is
subsidizing the ridiculous
cost of housing and other high living
costs in the most expensive cities.
If compare the
cost to giving away a free Kindle (or highly
subsidized higher - end Kindle) to every Prime member who signs up or re-ups for two years vs. a) the revenue gained from the ebooks purchased by those customers, b) the revenue from new Prime members, and c) being able to offer a package which is
basically free shipping on all Amazon orders + Netflix + Spotify + a ton of free books + a free Kindle... that's got ta make good economic sense for them, right?