__/ [ Jamie Hart ] on Monday 31 July 2006 16:01 \__
> Hadron Quark wrote:
>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>>
>>> __/ [ Hadron Quark ] on Monday 31 July 2006 10:57 \__
>>>
>>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> __/ [ nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ] on Monday 31 July 2006 07:44 \__
>>>>>
>>>>>> Quote:
>>>>>> ---------------
>>>>>> Microsoft on Thursday showed a prototype of a cell phone-based
>>>>>> computer that could one day find a use as a cheap PC for emerging
>>>>>> markets....
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft has come under some fire for not being more aggressive in
>>>>>> helping to create a low-cost PC that is suitable for emerging markets.
>>>>>> Mundie said that even in poorer countries, many people today have both
>>>>>> a telephone and a television, making a computer based on those
>>>>>> components easier to achieve than creating a low-cost PC....
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In addition to its phone-computing research efforts, Microsoft also
>>>>>> has its pay-as-you-go FlexGo program for emerging countries. The
>>>>>> program doesn't actually lower the cost of a PC, but makes it
>>>>>> available for a lower cost upfront: It allows people to put half the
>>>>>> cost of a PC down and then pay off the remainder via a per-hour usage
>>>>>> charge, over time.
>>>>> ^^^^^
>>>>>
>>>>> This has been discussed (criticised) in COLA before. The monopolist
>>>>> wishes to have people hire equipment rather than possess, let us say, a
>>>>> personal affordable laptop. This raises many question regarding
>>>>> persistence of use and hidden cost.
>>>> Hire equipment? Do you have a link? This is quite interesting because of
>>>> SW piracy etc. The above article is merely to do with HP and delayed
>>>> payments - nothing new there. IBM, DELL etc have been doing it since day
>>>> one.
>>> "Hire" was probably the wrong word to use. I don't know how it snuck in,
>>> but quick and careless (not the negative connotation; just the opposite
>>> of careful, as in proofreading) let it be. What they do is give/sell
>>> people equipment which is supposedly theirs, but in order to run
>>> applications on it, these people must be, much as though they are getting
>>> coupons. This
>>
>> This makes zero sense. Could you try again? Is your main problem that MS
>> are selling equipment where the customer pays over a period of time like
>> any catalogue service?
>>
> As I remember it, you paid a monthly subscription which got you the
> software and enough hardware to run it on. You stop paying and they
> take both the hardware and the software back.
>
> In effect it was like hiring the hardware and software, you kept paying
> month after month.
>
> This was all just theoretical I think, something Microsoft said they
> were working on rather than something that is/was available.
>
> It would be useful if you had a short term need for extra
> hardware/software, but less good for long term use.
France intends to do something similar, if I recall the details correctly. I
couldn't find a relevant link, but the idea is that poor families will
receive a computer and some connection for a low daily fee.
Best wishes,
Roy
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