Again, this is after 13 years, so the subsidized price is worth it for me (personally) for at least 13 years of use. In the original article it compares it to kobo and says “Meanwhile, when you buy a Kobo, you are buying a tool that can be maintained for a decade or more”, so 13 years either way. That said, I don’t like Kindles approach, this is purely a cost benefit calculation and Amazon subsidizing the hardware makes it worth it (for me). I only use ereaders for reading and don’t want/need any more features.