Can't believe that no one caught this over in the UK... From Scotland on Sunday... NOBODY in the UK need ever pay for a personal computer again - from this week new IBM models will be delivered free of charge to any home that wants one. In a move that will send shivers through the PC manufacturing and retailing sectors, US computing giant IBM is working with British start-up company Metronomy to supply a free IBM PC, which would otherwise retail for around £800, to every household in Britain. It is anticipated that around two million of the computers will be given away over the next three years, with an initial 200,000 being shipped in the first few months of 2004. The only catch is that users will be subjected to one minute of TV-style ads coming on to their screens every 20 minutes. If the user wishes, the ad break can be delayed by a maximum of five minutes to allow completion of another operation such as a secure online purchase of an airline ticket. Metronomy is supported by global advertising giants Omnicom and Interpublic, who have identified a way of using the PC market to take TV advertising into the computer age. Initial advertisers include Churchill Insurance, part of Royal Bank of Scotland, which is using its TV ads to sell to the PC user market. Metronomy chief executive John Thornhill said: "The PC enables TV advertisers to specifically target precise groups of users by mining the data provided by the users when they apply for their free PC." Although individuals’ personal information will remain confidential, the database will enable the advertisers to direct their ads at specific geographies and types of customer. More here... Thing is, would you go for a free pc if you were bombarded with a 1 minute "tv like" ad every 20 minutes?
Oh, there has to be some clause in the agreement about things like that. It looks as if data will be transmitted back to the marketing people, so if your pc never sends any data, they know you've wiped it.
Good enough to use as a simple gateway. I'd just use the monitor (hopefully lcd) and just leave the pc running 24/7.
and do they expect you to leave the pc running 24/7, you could object to leaving it on, on the power bill increase
Shogun - apparently they want a 30 hour per month minimum useage - they'll probably take it away if you dont use it. So does this mean *everybody* gets one - even those with multiple computers already? if so then im all for it...obviously
Each month, the company, Metronomy, mails a CD containing targeted advertising. Your PC will work only if the CD is installed. You must also agree to use the PC at least 30 hours a month and you must sign up to use the Internet. It is unclear from weekend newspaper reports if the punters must pay for Internet access, but if this service is free, Metronomy will have pulled off a extraordinary feat of economic engineering. http://www.theregister.com/content/51/34509.html
Hmmm... Wonder if there's something in the BIOS. The article also does say that the computer needs to be online too.
Who said it runs windows, it could be running a Linux distro with that code embedded into it. Interesting, but the adds would get annoying fairly quickly /me waits for numerious "how to hack IBM add machine" websites to start popping up...
Did you calculate how many CDs Metronomy would have to send out to users if all 200,000 PCs were snapped up and kept for the full three years? Yep, 7.2 MILLION CDs - one wonders why at least broadband users couldn't download the ads off the Net rather than from CD. Find out more http://www.theregister.com/content/35/34543.html
Found another article with a pic of the PC... http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/17/free.pc.reut/index.html Worth $1400 / 800 pounds Celeron 2.4ghz
