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Microsoft specs out 'pay as you go' PC scheme

December 29, 2008 12:00 PM ET

Active Comments
Anonymous says: I'm still laughing over their 2005 patent application for the page-up and page-down keys....
Anonymous says: The other part of this that they are showing is that it forces users to have even more of their...


The security module would also lock the PC to a specific supplier, perhaps an ISP, much as a subsidized cell phone is locked to a specific mobile carrier for the life of a contract. "The metering agents and ... the security module allow an underwriter in the supply chain to confidently supply a computer at little or no upfront cost to a user or business, aware that their investment is protected and that the scalable performance capabilities generate revenue commensurate with actual performance level settings and usage," said Microsoft.

Pricing could be on an hourly rate, perhaps with different "bundles" priced according to the software offered and the hardware necessary to run that software. A bundle of productivity applications, for example, might include word processing and spreadsheet software that could access two of three processor cores and a medium level of graphics performance for, say, $1 an hour.

A "gaming bundle," meanwhile, would make available all the PC's processor cores and 3-D graphics support for $1.25 an hour.

"Both users and suppliers benefit from this new business model," Microsoft claimed. "The user is able to migrate the performance level of the computer as needs change over time, while the supplier can develop a revenue stream business that may actually have higher value than the one-time purchase model currently practiced."

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