Free-PC Bites the Dust

Jade & eann write, "Not too long ago, we signed up for Free-PC, mainly to see if we could find a way around their ads. :) It ends up we just had to be patient. After the merger with emachines, they've discontinued the FreePC program and their Internet service this past week: the details are here. If you have one of these systems, it's now yours to keep. They're not even bothering to have people send back the machines."

Comments

The whole idea....

[niekze]

If you were to get one of these free pc's, you should follow their wishes.
By bypassing the ad's, you are effectively stealing from them. The only other moral option is to not take part in the promotion at all. But since morality is scarce in the world, the company goes under. Imagine how many people who couldn't afford a pc, being able to get one. They would simply have to trade their time to watch ads in return. Its a simple exchange.
It's not "free"
Its only an exchange of a different commodity.
They also have the option not to take part in the offer.
It's sad that an idea such as this goes down the toilet.
I don't support it, but I think it should be available for those you do.

Here's the email they sent me 2 Feb '00

[David Mooney]

I snipped out the links because they contained my user id. Subject: FREE-PC PROGRAM TO BE DISCONTINUED

Dear david,

As part of our recent merger with eMachines, we have decided to terminate the Free-PC program. It was a difficult decision for us, but it's important for us to focus our resources on providing new desktop software applications for eMachines PCs.

As a result, we are going to transfer title of your PC to you. This means that the PC is now yours free and clear. We will be destroying your credit card information, and we will be sending you written confirmation of this as well as the title transfer. We are also including instructions at the conclusion of this email so that you can remove the Free-PC Resource Center (the advertising display and utility buttons) from your screen. Of course, your warranty is still valid, and you can continue to receive technical support on your PC by dialing the appropriate number below:

For Compaq Computers: (281) 927-5272
For Dell Computers: (888) 560-8324

As part of this change, we will be discontinuing our free Internet access service effective February 14, 2000. Between now and then, we encourage you to look into alternatives for connecting to the Internet. We'd like your transition to be as smooth as possible, so we've listed a few of the most popular free Internet service providers below, along with links to Web pages where you can sign up for their service. We'll also be sending additional information on each of these providers in separate emails. After February 14, our local dial-up numbers will no longer work. At that time, all @freepcmail.com accounts will also be shut down. All of the Internet service providers listed below can provide you with new email addresses. We encourage you to notify your family, friends and associates with whom you correspond about your new email address prior to February 14.

AltaVista
snip

BlueLight
snip

WorldSpy
snip

For those of you who specifically requested that we send you occasional offers or information on particular subjects you were interested in, we will continue to pass along those offers as they come in. In fact, those offers may become even more attractive as we are able to negotiate even better deals now that we are representing literally millions of eMachines users as well. As always, if you find that these offers are no longer of interest, there are instructions within each email on how to remove your name from the mailing list for that topic.

Finally, we would very much like to stay in touch with you and ask your opinion about the new software programs we are designing. If you would be willing to occasionally look at new programs and give us feedback, please click on the following link mailto:betatest@emachinesinc.com to send us an email letting us know.

It has been our sincere pleasure to provide you with your Free-PC. We hope you will continue to get many hours of enjoyment from it. If you have any further questions, please visit our Web site at snip .

Sincerely,

eMachines Customer Support


**INSTRUCTIONS FOR REMOVING YOUR FREE-PC RESOURCE CENTER**

*Be sure you have signed up with a new Internet service provider before you do the following!*

1. Turn on your computer.
2. When the red COMPAQ or blue DELL logo appears, immediately press and hold the left SHIFT key.
3. Keep holding down the key until you see the message "WINDOWS is running in safe mode".
4. Release the SHIFT key, and click on the "OK" button.
5. Once the computer has completely turned on, double click the icon "My Computer".
6. When the "My Computer" window opens, double click the folder called "Program Files".
7. Delete the "PC" folder by left clicking it so that it is highlighted and then press the "DELETE" key on the keyboard.
8. Click "OK" if prompted.
9. Click the "START" button on the lower left side of your screen, select "Shutdown" and restart the computer.

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