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AOL's $299 PC
cmj writes "Internet.com reports 'Looking to attract households that still aren't online, AOL is offering new customers a $299 PC system if they sign a one-year $23.90 dial-up Internet service contract.' A click through AOL's ecommerce site reveals the the specs as 1.7 GHz Celeron with 256 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive, 56K modem, 10/100ethernet card, 17" monitor and Lexmark printer. The PC is running Windows XP, and includes 'AOL Office Powered by Sun'. Also of note is the fact that the $299 appears to be financed at around 22%. The math ( (12*23.90)+299 ) seems to suggest that you can get a $699 computer for $585.80 plus any finance charges. Setting aside the question of whether this is a good deal or not, one has to wonder whether AOL is desperate for new customers and resorting to bribery, or just progressing to the next step of branding. With this action AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse."
I distinctly remember Microsoft doing something similar with their $400 rebate for signing up for three years of MSN. They dropped it after a year or two. AOL's deal seems more financially risky to me, I wonder how they can pull it off.
Auto-reply to ACs: "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."
Also, the numbers for how much this computer is worth don't factor the right things in. Anyone who'd go for this deal needs some sort of ISP to begin with, and the $23.90/month may be higher than other ISPs, but does give the customer something of value beyond the PC. On the other hand, is that really a $699 computer?
Mencken had it right. So glad that's old news.
"controling"?
How are they controling you? Do they prohibit you from visiting other sites or installing another OS/Apps? Just because they install some default image, that doesn't mean they're controling what you do with the system.
My sig is blank, I typed this by hand.
...maybe they could get the price down to $199, hmmm?
;)
Don't flip out on me, it was just a thought...
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
Sounds like it will probably come with StarOffice (or something like it).
I think this is a fabulous idea and hope many people take advantage of their generous offer.
Did I mention that I own AOL stock? Yeah, I really should've cashed out years ago.
Considering you can get a much better machine for much cheaper. Check out:
http://gotapex.com
You'll find BETTER Dell machines for ~$400 with 6 months of AOL included!
"With this action AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse."
;) )
Uh Oh, is that Steve Jobs I'm seeing in the distance? Looks like he's fuming...
Next Month: the iNet internet service, so Steve too can also claim to control everything from the hardware to the software to the internet.
(and yes, I own an apple, and hell no, I would never buy iNet
This
i'd actually recommend this to my friends.
with the printer and monitor, it's a good deal.
just... have to reinstall windows for the dummies, or install linux for the extremely computer literate.
Runnin' On Empty
Well, this might be exploitable by the tech-savvy... especially since I believe AOL has negotiated a branded version of StarOffice to round it out. Keep what you want, put up with the ISP solution for a while. Worth it for a year for many families, I suppose. Whether the retention rate will be sufficient, given AOL's service record (presumably software [i]isn't[/i] going to time out or require frequent net connectivity, though I wouldn't put it past them)... only time will tell.
Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Gates M'dna wgah'nagl fhtagn.
The math ( (12*23.90)+299 ) seems to suggest that you can get a $699 computer for $585.80 plus any finance charges.
More like More like $399
$699 will buy a P4 3.0GHz that's better in most other respects too
What year is whoever submitted that in?
Jason
ProfQuotes
And it is a dial up with possible extra charges in Alaska(!) using very old tech (17" knackered end-of production line CRT etc) no less. This is classic low margin sales... but the rest of the market is so saturated the low-end (joining Walmart etc) is possibly a place to make a buck.
karma karma karma karma karma chameleon, you come and go, you come and go.
They give you the fine print in gif form just to make sure it's difficult for you to read the text. The resolution isn't really fine enough for the text to be legible at any magnification, but it appears that the finance rate is 23.9% or 25.9%
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
You really need to review this. I saw the story this AM (EST) and throughly reviewed the deal because I'd like to upgrade my mother's computer which is a currently a pc200mhz with 64mb of memory as a Xmas present.
l egal1.as p?vcid=a2&srccode=subp2b447688
Here's the fine print (beware the fine print is a image file):
http://www.aolcheckout.com/aol-pc/aol01b-
"$299 Financed plus a one-year committment to AOL for 23.90"...did you read financed?
my take on the deal...
according to the fine print, you are issued a Tiger Gold Card with approve credit from Wells Fargo, furthermore, the regular APR is 21.9% (i think, the fine print is very small).
so now you have a credit card from a company with a really high interest rate! "Boom!" as Madden 2004 would say. That is the hook for AOL, they can make some money by establishing new customers for a credit card company.
Its seems like a nice deal on the front end.
-- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
Seems to me like AOL is trying to pursue a strategy (at least in regards to this latest offering) similar to Nintendo's...
Charge cheap for something the user needs to use the company's products, then hope that the customer stays on board and buys more products from the company.
Will this work? I doubt it.. IMO they will lose tons of cash.. But hey, the real beneficiaries of this are the customers, so I'm all for it.
webmaster shirts and more
You are telling me that you want people who are, almost by definition, too stupid to get a real Internet connection to have a LINUX PC? Damn, just invite the crackers to go nuts directly why don't ya? :)
Seriously though, these are the kind fo people who would whine about Lindows since it's different. Doesn't matter how much the same it is, they'd whine and not use it.
I mean an AOL user here at work got her computer upgraded from 98 to 2k (new computer). From a user standpoint there is almost no difference. She was even used to loggin in since network shares required it. None the less she found about a million things to whine abou. One was that when you open explorer in 98 it goes to the C drive, in 2k it goes to your home directory. She bitched and moaned that this was confusing/difficult/took time/etc till we found a fix.
No man, you do NOT want these people on Linux, espically not one that is logged in as root by default.
I'm surprised this doesn't come with Phoenix's DRM'd BIOS (aka 'trusted computing') to prevent booting or installing other OS's. This way AOL could really lock you in, possibly even limiting what other dialup networking and broadband connections you can install. Maybe the next logical step?
Not really major super proof of their money hungryness, but Winamp5, which is created by nullsoft, who is owned by AOL time warner is going to have a "pro" version that will cost money.
Being that I sort of know the nullsoft crew, I know they probably didn't like having to do this.
I guess AOL had to make money on those cool CD tins they were shipping out last year.
Hopefully the low price tag will convince people still using WebTV to actually purchase a personal computer.
I can see this as being killer for grandparents and others living on fixed incomes.
The system specs are decent, considering the target audience is probably not going to be encoding digital video, compiling code, or running photoshop.
The office suite is a nice touch. It sucks to get emailed a MS Office document and not being able to open them in anything but WordPad. I get so many tech support calls related to people not being able to open MS Office attachments. If the AOL office suite includes Excel and PowerPoint clones, all the better.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
With this action AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse.
When did my girlfriend start working at AOL?
I might get one of these for my Mom.
I don't feel like piecing a machine together for her, and she needs internet service anyhow... and she needs something EASY to use, not a crap service provider.
Seems like a good deal. It's either this or a cheap PC and something like MSN or AOL. This seems like the easiest (if not the cheapest) way to go.
"AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse."??
Give me a break. AOL doesn't care what you do with the PC. Go ahead, wipe it clean and install your favorite alternative OS. All that matters is that you sign a one-year commitment to AOL's dial-up service at $23.90 per month. That $286.80 commitment subsidizes the cost of the computer. AOL has stated (maybe it's even in a linked article) that a common reason given for cancellations is loss of access to a computer. In a few tests they have offered such users a discounted PC rather than let them become former users. As a result of what they have learned they believe that offering a really cheap computer will attract/retain members. They need to do something as they have lost a couple million recently.
Sounds like a business decision to me. But, hey, maybe it's all just part of a vast conspiracy by a big corporation to control everything we do.
anyone remember the iOpener?
totally hacked
this sig limit is too small to put anything good h
You cannot consider the entire cost of AOL access to be "interest" in this interesting calculation. You must consider that you are receiving something of value in addition to just the computer. THe way to calculate the effective financing rate is to take the difference between the cost of AOL and the cost of another equivalent access service, say, Earthlink, which I believe is $15/mo or so...
So, (12*(23.90-15))+299 = $405.80...
Ok, so let's see what I can buy that system for.
I just purchased two small machines, Athlon 1900+, 256MB Ram, 40GB Hard disks, with integrated I/O and everything for $280 each delivered. A 17" monitor can be had for about $100 and a cheap-ass Lexmark printer is about $50. What's that come out to? $430? and it's a MUCH MUCH MUCH faster machine...
So the bottom line is that this deal is marginal at best, and with AOL's buying power, it's probably very profitable in the end. They can probably put that machine together for about $200-250.
Big Planet (a smaller internet service provider) did this very thing four years ago with the iPhone. The iPhone was selling at $399 at the time, and customers could get it for free if they committed to a three-year contract internet contract regardless if the iPhone stopped working. Most customers signed up for the unlimited access plan at $24.95/month. After three years, they ended paying $900. Bottom line: contracts such as these are great for making money, but they ultimately create a mass of upset customers.
You didn't need the extra set of parentheses - the math already assumes that.
Boy, I'm a geek...
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
"$299 with a $20+ a month lock-in contract, so what they really mean is something closer to about $450."
You're exaggerating by leaving out the fact that they're getting AOL access, which millions of people are paying $20+ a month for without getting a cheap PC. If you think that AOL service is worth nothing, then your math works, I suppose, but...
Enable 3D printed prosthetics!
AOL's "1. Mail computers 2. ??? 3. Profit!!!" plan is as follows:
Savvy computer users will figure out that erasing the hard drive and installing their own OS removes the 1045 hour time limit, and removing the TNT from inside the computer case completely eliminates the possibility of the computer blowing up.
Then, in an RIAA-like effort, AOL will sue hundreds of thousands of individuals for illegally using their computers, which constitute valuable intellectual property. They will ignore the fact that by law, when they send something in the mail, it becomes the property of the recipient. It will take a long time for this to get to the courts, in order for the courts to throw it out, and in the meantime, many frightened teenagers will settle with AOL for amounts greatly exceeding the market value of the computers.
Clean profits for AOL.
Uh no - it is actually somewhere in the $25 dollar range (plus the cost of any media that they ship along with it, and also first line tech support)
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
not the people who would buy this. They will use the computer as it comes, and will not even consider changing the OS in fear of "breaking" it. And, they would never notice if slashdot.org was mapped to 127.0.0.1
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
Insurance companies should do this!
You could sign up for a 2 year policy with Geico, and get a '89 Mercury station wagon, with external wood paneling, for only $300 bucks!
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Funny, a few years ago I was thinking
"compuserve and the like are offering these great deals because no one will be on dialup anymore"
Now it seems that dialup is going to be aruond for a long time.
This offer is just capitalizing on the prevalence of poor and ill-informed individuals. If AOL is successful, we'll have a rough estimate as to how many of these people there are. Don't get me wrong, more power to AOL--it's their right to market. But it's our right to go around educating people as to why this isn't a good deal.
But I guess posting on /. isn't gonna convince people like my parents...
"The math ( (12*23.90)+299 ) seems to suggest that you can get a $699 computer for $585.80 plus any finance charges"
This math is only correct if you assume that there's no value in having AOL dial access. If you think that AOL access is worth the $23.90 a month that millions of people are already paying for it, you're getting a $699 computer for $585.80 plus any finance charges, plus agreeing to stay on AOL for a year.
This doesn't sound any more sleazy than cell phone companies giving you a heavily discounted cell phone in return for a commitment for longer service. If you don't want to make the commitment, don't sign the contract, and don't take the up front discount.
To me, this looks like a decent way for people who aren't online to get online very cheaply and learn whether they want to spend more for broadband, etc., later.
Enable 3D printed prosthetics!
AOL needs to keep their name in the game this why they are doing this. Also this is the best time to do this. With the holiday season they will really rack up.
Get Movie Posters
You could build your own $500 computer that would be most likely faster, and not contain all that shitty pre-installed AOL crapware that will slow you down further. And, you wouldn't be signed up for AOL service. (And who the hell wants that.)
Or, for the Maccies, you can get an eMac for $750 (Student Discount) which has a CD Burner, 40gb hard drive, and 1ghz processor. (Also doesn't contain gobs of pre-loaded poo.)
Systemax pc's are pretty good, been around awhile, basic solid machines. If you already use AOL, thats a nice system with monitor for 299. Wonder how much the ink cartridges are... The mobo seems to be very cheap, would be nice for more specs.
Doing a quick pricewatch search shows the pc is an average deal, and system max uses quality oem hardware, your choice.
But I'd rather go over to Outpost.com (frys) and get something like amd200+mb for 100 bux, get a nice case for 40 bux, some memory, hd and gfx card for about 350 for that price. Pick up a used 17 inch monitor for 20 bux at RePC.
There are good deals, but you have to look. I found used dual P2's for 250 bux with scsi drives. Awesome linux/bsd servers.
You know, as much as it pains me to say this... Uh...
:O OMFG - I SAID IT!
:O Oh Shit! I just said that too!!!
:)
I've actually started to recommend AOL to people!
There it is. I'm sorry. But there is some reasoning here, if you all won't mod me down as a troll first.
The main reason has to do with AOL 9's control of spyware, parental rules for Internet usage, and yes, ease of use. For some users out there this is exactly what they need. AOL's numbers aren't near as high as they used to be due to user savvy, but they do still serve a purpose. Think of all your friends/relative's computers you've had to run AdAware or Spybot on recently and you have to agree...
Even on broadband!
Bad Dobby! Bad BAD BAD!!!
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
It origially sold without a service agreement and you could pay for it with CASH, then walk out the door with it. The Xbox is like this, and so are those one-time-use digital cameras Ritz sells. If you're willing to pay full price for a Sprint cell phone, you can also walk out the store without any contract and use it as a doorstop or an overpriced electronic phonebook.
This computer, however, is being sold on the condition that you are entering into a contractual agreement to continue service for one year and clearly spells out the penalties ($23.90 billed for each remaning month of service plus a $40 breach-of-contract fee). If you bought the machine for $299 with the intention of not using the service, they have every right to hit you with those fees.
It's not an entirely horrible deal for newbies, if there are any of them left... But for everyone else, it's not the next great hack, it's just your average service agreement subsidized hardware.
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
Okay, so I sign up, I get a credit card with a balance of $299? No, wait, they want a 12 month paid commitment (p.s.- HERE is a link to the fine details...)
so thats a credit card with $585.80 balance on it?
So what happens if I pay it off in one shot? (I understand that I am in the minority. I have a card that gives me air miles- I put EVERYTHING on that card, and always pay off my monthly balance. Yes, I went to Hawai'i two years in a row.)
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
If you think that AOL service is worth nothing, then your math works, I suppose, but...
IMO, it is worth nothing. In fact, they would have to pay me to use AOL. But yes, I suppose that the dozen or so people in the USA that don't have internet access now have an opportunity to find out how shitty AOL's service is.
Oh yeah- Shipping, Handling, and Taxes...
this is starting to look like you get to pay approx $699 for a $699 computer, but get 12 months of AOL for free!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
I have before, it's not too hard at all.
In fact there is a small tutorial on how to connect to AOL with Linux.
I wonder if this offer is valid with AOL Broadband, that way you could be on Broadband, and still have a cheap PC.
Can I get an eye poke?
Dog House Forum
It is not surprising at all. When I did Apple T-Supp I would field about 10 maybe fifteen calls a week from AOL users who were using AOL as the only App on a G4 or whatnot. They couldn't open an attachment, couldn't print, couldn't unstuff a file that AOL stuffs couldn't find AOL's prefs in the toolbar. And when they wanted to write a letter would e-mail them selves...
Back on point Let AOL build the whole car they will have to support it and their T-S is so good they all deserve a long vacation in India, or Brazil, or whereva'
--
Whats right is what is left after everything else has gone wrong
--Shaddup and support your local PBS station Plan for it
I don't understand how this is "flamebait." I hate AOL with the whitehot fury of a thousand suns and I'm not afraid to say so. This computer deal also strikes me as a BAD deal. This is how computer vendors (and dialup vendors) unload outdated service and rope in unclued customers into years of support contracts.
It borders on sharp business practices. Or maybe I'm just not seeing it.
Intolerance for ambiguity is the mark of the authoritarian personality.
Well, if you were going to get AOL anyway, it's a good deal. And if, after a year of AOL you are sick of it, you're free to do whatever you want...MSN, NetZero, even cable/DSL with no hardware changes except the addition of an Ethernet modem.
You can get dial-up Internet access with no AOL bullshit and a cool PC starting at only $20/month from PeoplePC while paying NOTHING down.
You can buy a PC for $200 at wal-mart.
go AOL. tsk.
Extraordinary Vacations. Exceptional Prices
I think my college's volume licensing agreement is around $25/CPU.
AOL is big enough that they probably make the H/W manufacturers (and Sun for StarOffice) take part of their revenue from the monthly fees, rather than up-front.
Let's face it, the typical AOL customer isn't aware of the alternatives.
Click on the More Details button and you see some .ASP code at the top of the page:
<% if uCase(Request.QueryString("srccode")) = "SUBP2B447688" then %> <% end if %>>
LOL!
-=- Many seek good nights and lose good days.
It's not just a good idea. It's frighteningly good if they can pull it off. Have you ever heard this response? I have.
"What OS do you have, Mac or Windows?"
"I think it's AOL."
Imagine hearing it a lot more.
"Cheap" until you go to buy ink cartridges and realize you're being taken. I know this -- I've got a multifunction x83 whose cartridges can be nearly $40 apiece.
Go buy a halfway decent Canon instead. At least they permit competition of ink cartridge manufacturers, and hence the cartridge prices are about half that of Lexmark's.
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
Build a cheapo box yourself, or if it's a K6-2, go to 550MHz ($40), if it's a P3 or Celery, go to 1.4GHz (Tualie Celery $35, adaptor $8.50-$20).
From the "I'm trying to think, but nothing happens" department.
This reminds me of some MLM scam a few years ago, that featured a stripped down "Internet Appliance". They were sold by distributors, much like a MLM scam. I can't remember what they were called. Maybe the same people that had that went over to AOL.
AOL should get the contract for Iraq, they're still guillable over there.
Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com
they are in a contract for 24.00 a month internet service. Aol is crap and makes computers run like crap. Now they are paying for a computer then paying an exorbitant price for internet that cost between 15 and 20 bucks everywhere else, less in some places. I Don't see how just adding the crappy software makes it a deal anywhere. You will save more in a year getting 15.00 a month internet than what they are saving on the crappy computer they are selling.
What?
Since when does buying AoL for a year constitute selling your soul?
There must have been a release from the Vatican that I missed. Or maybe in the upcoming "Vatican III" which introduces new methods of selling souls, which will include buying AoL.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
This is offtopic but I'm really curious how you changed the explorer default from the home directory to C:\. How did you do this?
Non illegemati carborundum est!
and you will probably start recieving them in the mail with the AOL cd right in the drive.
It comes to prove IMHO that AOL's current positioning in the US market is a "path dependent" phenomenon, coming to be by a succession of (unlikely) historic events, and by no means natural. I do not fear AOL controling or dominating anything. It seems to me the only thing they are trying to do is to control their downhill slide.
One last thing. I thought you would be interested to know that AOL Brasil has a Linux download area, and that they are recommending Netscape 7.0 as a browser. I'm not sure, but I believe this has no parallel in AOL other markets.
Quem a paca cara compra, paca cara pagará.
" You could build your own $500 computer that would be most likely faster..."
/. readers, it is appropriate for many other people. Parental Controls may not be your cup of tea, but for many parents they are essential. Additionally, while AOL isn't "cheap" at over 20 bucks a month, keep in mind that most broadband ISPs charge at least twice that.
Don't be so naive. You are NOT the target consumer for this product - this is aimed at people who aren't tech-savvy. Anyone who can put together a computer will always be able to do a cheaper and better job on their own. People who cannot [read: most people] must buy a premade box, and this isn't really that terrible a deal for them. While AOL service isn't the right choice for most
No one expects a computer nerd or technophile of any kind to get this for themself, but for fixed-/low-income novices and parents, it's actually quite reasonable.
Oh, and preloaded junk can be uninstalled or the machine can be reformatted.
GL
Right click, save image, open in Gimp and hit + a couple times...
AOL Disclosures: ELIGIBILITY FOR $299 PC OFFER REQUIRES 12 MONTH COMMITMENT FOR AOL MEMBERSHIP AFTER 45 DAY TRIAL PERIOD AT $23.90 PER MONTH (TOTAL COMMITMENT OF $286.80). TO AVOID BEING CHARGED A MONTHLY FEE OR INCURRING CANCELLATION FEES, (1) CANCEL AOL SERVICE BEFORE 45 DAY TRIAL PERIOD ENDS AND (2) RETURN PC BEFORE TRIAL ENDS OR WITHIN 30 DAYS OF RECIEPT,WHICHEVER IS LONGER (the "Promotional Period"). If your AOL membership is cancelled or terminated for any reason after the expiration of the Promotional Period, but before the 12-month paid commitment expires, AOL may charge a one time fee equal to the number of months left on your commitment x $23.90, plus a $40 early cancellation fee, to your AOL billing method. Premium services carry surcharges, and communication surcharges may apply in certain areas, including in Alaska, even during the Promotional Period. Members using dial-up access may incur phone charges on their telephone bills, depending on their calling plan and location, even during the Promotional Period. AOL may be optimizing some of your computer settings to enhance your experience on AOL. Available to new members in the US, age 18 or older, credit card required.
PC Disclosures: Eligibility for $299 PC offer requires 12 month paid commitment for AOL membership. See details above. You will be charged $299, plus shipping, handeling, and taxes immediately upon shipment of the AOL Optimized PC. Your satisfaction with the AOL Optimixed PC is guaranteed during the Promotional Period. If you are not fully satisfied within this time period, return the PC for refund to payment method of $299 fee plus taxes. Shipping and handeling will not be refunded or reimbersed. You must call AOL seperately to cancel your AOL service, even if PC is returned during the Promotional Period.
Financing Disclosures: Minimum purchase amount to qualify for financing is $299. Excludes tax and delivery charges. The minimum monthly payment quoted above is based on the purchase of this item alone on a new account. Additional purchases may cause the minimum monthly payment to change. The actual minimum payment for the account will be 1/30th of the highest new balance of the account, or $25 whichever is greater. The Tiger Gold Card is issued with approved credit by Wells Fargo Financial National Bank. The regular APR is 21.9% as od October 1, 2003. The APR may vary.
Limited quantity available. Offer expires December 31, 2003 or while supplies last, whichever comes first.
Soon AOL will start mailing out "free" PCs instead of those obnoxious CDs.
While I think AOL is for wusses... a lot of people sign up for it and use it. With them shipping Sun's office suite, there's a good chance this might put a dent in MS's Office monopoly. Businesses won't be buying these, so it will simply be consumers using something other than MS, but you have to start somewhere right?
Additionally, how does this work in CA? Remember a couple of years ago when MSN was offering free computers if you signed up for a year contract, but CA law let's you cancel the contract at any time so people were just getting free pc's? Wouldn't this be subject to the same CA law?
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
You laugh, but a justifiable argument can be made for such an arangement. A "safe" car[1] with "low cost" of repair[2] for about five years sounds about right.
[1] Less chance of a claim (your health insurance may want in on this).
[2] Less cost to them to have your car repaired.
I'll go look and get back to you tomorrow.
This is no different to cell phones.
This post patent pending.
They keep charging you even after you try to kill the account. They got in trouble with this before but I've read from people who've been bitten by this lately.
It amazes me why anybody puts up with their crappy interface
unless you don't mind playing tech support for the next few years of your life.
Any Microsoft title sold in my campus bookstore such as Office XP-Pro ($208. for students) can be had by staff and faculty for $10. Now I haven't investigated, but the bookstore may be selling at a slight loss to S&F and raping the students. Like that would be a first!
I just use open office - the laser printer is vendor neutral.
Well, for people experienced with the internet, I agree that a cheap ISP is the best deal, because all you really need is TCP/IP routing and a mail server. But for someone who wants to have their hand held, AOL's not a bad start -- it's certainly The plain internet access ISP's have gotten better over the years, but it's still easier getting AOL working than installing and configuring PPP, web, email, etc., individually.
Personally, I'd go straight to broadband rather than dial, but that's 2x as much, and we're talking about people who don't want to spend that kind of money on the internet.
Enable 3D printed prosthetics!
I visited the website and noticed it looked oddly familiar. Did a whois on it, and it showed up as being registered to online computer merchant tigerdirect.com . It's interesting that TigerDirect isn't mentioned anywhere on the page, nor do they mention it on their main page.
Seems like it's almost more that Tigerdirect wants to sell more machines than AOL trying to get more users.
299pcdeal.com
Domain name: 299pcdeal.com
Registrant Contact:
tigerdirect.com
Domain Admin (lonny.paul@tigerdirect.com)
-
Fax: none
7795 W Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33144
USA
Administrative Contact:
tigerdirect.com
Domain Admin (lonny.paul@tigerdirect.com)
-
Fax: none
7795 W Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33144
USA
Technical Contact:
tigerdirect.com
Domain Admin (lonny.paul@tigerdirect.com)
-
Fax: none
7795 W Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33144
USA
Billing Contact:
tigerdirect.com
Domain Admin (lonny.paul@tigerdirect.com)
-
Fax: none
7795 W Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33144
USA
Status: active
Name Servers:
ns1.domain19.net
ns2.domain19.net
Creation date: 11 Sep 2003 20:56:47
Expiration date: 11 Sep 2004 20:56:47
I have blog like everyone else
make a shortcut like so:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe c:\
A $699 computer my ass. You can get a better equipped machine from e.g. Dell for around $500, $600 tops.
Who is claiming the $699 pricetag? Is that like when some TV ad claims you're getting 8 trillion dollars worth (as determined by seller) of stuff for only $19.99?
Dude! you got AOLed!
These printer outfits have a similar business model to AOL. Sell the hardware at a slight loss but make it up in the subscription or the ink.
Religion is the main cause of atheism.
The manufacturers will add alot more than their own cost to the final price.
Twenty five bucks on the manufacturer's Bill of Materials may not sound like much, but they are likely in business to make money.
Small changes in B.O.M. mean large changes in MSRP.
"If they have both, tell them we use Linux. And if they have that, tell them the computers are down." -Dave Chapelle
Thank GOD for Microsoft...defender of our freedom to choose! Uhhm...wait...
-----
"Cogito Eggo Sum: I think, therefore, waffle."
Because Insurance companies are all about safety, they have all the data, and they have the deep pockets, this would be a disaster.
A lawsuit would come the minute somebody got hurt in or by that car.
Ford can sell you an unsafe car. It's simple product liabilty.
An insurance company would have to justify, in court, that their data shows that the vehicle they gave you is not just safe, but the safest. I can see phrases like "knew or should have known" figuring prominently in court claims.
If they did give you the safest car, then the next option would be to sue based on how unsafe the "safe" car was to the other (injured) motorist.
And so on. Believe me, the insurance industry knows every tort trick in the book, and they're wise enough to know which ones will be used against them.
AOL, on the other hand, has a busines model based on fleecing the gullible (just to get back on topic).
Too bad this computer does not meet the requirements to run the new AOL 9.0..
"With this action AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse."
What exactly is your point?
So do Microsoft and MSN, to an even further degree. This is hardly anything new, it is not like we're not one step closer to 1984 as a result.
...is to ship everyone a new PC in the mail twice a week.
Finally, junk mail that would be useful.
Aol is crap and makes computers run like crap.
*shakes head* You guys are sooooo elite. You know why everyone wants to have a computer, right? It is obviously so they can have the fastest machine and the most elite monitor and, and, uh...
Yeah, I'm willing to guess that for millions of people, having a machine sit in their living room that they can turn on and click a button and be "connected" to someplace friendly -- with a buddy list and communities and a friendly voice TELLING them they have mail... this feels like what they want from the Internet. So it takes them an extra 10 seconds to boot up Microsoft Works. SO WHAT? They are happy. Show me the problem.
I would have to say that explosives are the most abused technology in all of history.
The 17" monitor goes for $83 retail.
The printer is probably worth less than $20.
So, if getting a [$200+$83+$20=] $303 PC for about $600 sounds like a good deal, then AOL is your savior! (!!)
Sadly, AOL is going after those least-informed of consumers with this deal, so they'll probably find a fair number of takers.
For those who don't consider AOL worthless, let's consider the cost of ISP service on top. A quick query here tells me that it's easy to get dial up for $8/month or less.
So....[$303+($8*12mths)=] $399 worth of "internet experience" for $699.
If you discount 23.90 a month to todays money (assuming there is 0.33% or (0.0033) monthly inflation, Net Present Value of that would equal to about 280.74 + 299 = $579.74 total cost in real money if you were to buy the computer today....
And like some "discounted" cell phones or computers (like from eMachines), what are the chances that this PC will be watered down as well, like crippling its upgradability? (ex. a drive rack with space for a single hard drive, 1-2 open PCI slots, low memory capacity for RAM, etc.)
If all you're looking for though is a simple computer (monitor and color printer included) for surfing the Internet, word processing, or any other uncomplicated tasks, then it might be something you can live with for quite some time.
>what consumer wouldn't want that?
Those of us who don't want to surf the 'net on a TV?
if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
That computer's better than mine. And mine was over $2000 when I bought it. Maybe it's time to upgrade...
Purchase give something away as a promotion, and then make the recipient agree to give some of its worth back in AOL subscription revenue (or ad revenue for that matter).
It's a scheme to increase the amount of "cash coming in" to the company, even though more cash is going out to make this tiny amount come back in... a scheme to make this worthless craphole of a company seem viable to its shareholders.
I'll bet 10 to 1 that if it catches on, AOL will start using it as a platform for spyware.
You've got owned!
SCO: 800-726-8649
Verisign: 800-361-8319, 888-642-9675
Diebold: 800-433-VOTE (8683)
...one has to wonder whether AOL is desperate for new customers and resorting to bribery, or just progressing to the next step of branding
Seems the me the obvious answer to that question is that AOL is indeed desperate. Their subscription base has been continually dropping, and with more homes moving to broadband it seems the trend will continue. I think it's the natural progression of internet users who, as they become more proficient with PCs, realize they do not need AOL to hold their hand while online. Plus you've got a generation of kids growing up with computers, educated on high speed networks, that know what they can do when they're not limited to that dialup modem. All in all, people don't "need" AOL like they did 5 years ago, and probably never will again. The time of AOL is over.
I planned on inserting something witty here but never got around to it.
If you already have a monitor and are looking for a great basic system, this Bundle is right for you. With a 2.4GHz Intel Celeron Processor, 128MB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive, 'Starting Point' is ideal for students and for families who want to get online and get going! With prices as low as $19.95 per month*** including 4 years of Internet access, it's a great deal. Extend your warranty to a full 3 years for only $89 by adding Warranty Upgrade for 'Starting Point' to your cart!
This isn't all that new...
Actually, now I'm starting to wonder how cheap an internet connection IS for AOL. If there are plenty of ISPs out there selling service for $9.99 a month, it makes you wonder what AOL's profit margin is on that.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Ok, first of all I know many small firms that use AOL (although it is usually AOL Broadband), second of all AOL does a lot of good for the net. AOL scans every email for viruses and doesn't let any through that has one, but rather they notify the sender, they also have great spam filters. Its very user friendly, and their DSL uses PPPoE so its easy to connect to through a router and then the client machines can jsut pop up AOL and connect throguh the LAN connection which is free (yes it is, i've done it on computers, and yes more then one person from the same acocunt can be using aol at the same time). It helps stop the spread of email worms, does excellent spam filtering, and gives the user every means of modern communication that he/she may need, at the tips of their fingers. Yes its not the most slashdotty type service where people use slackware simply becuase its hard to set up (not trying to start a war here, but thats what it sometimes seems like, where as debian, or gentoo in my opinion are better and easier to set up) AOL is no worse then MSN, except that AOL tries to do some good on the net and are very innovative. BTW, all kinds of music and media are available on AOL too at no cost. It realy is pretty nice and impressive, most of my family uses it. I dont use it, but most users love it. Oh yea AOL also are the nice guys that opened up the TOC protocol after it was the most popular protocol, unlike MSN who forced their protocol on users to make it one of the most popular then locked out everyone else. AOL also supports open source as is seen by the AOL Server and the fact that all(or most) of their servers run Linux. And if you IM ZolaOnAOL (that is AOL's chat bot, it was made by AOL and it isnt jsut some hackers bot) and ask her, "What is the best operating system in the world?" , She'll promptly answer that Linux is. Why are you guys so against a corporation that supports the Open Source movement (true they dont have a linux client, but thats because of the lack of market, it wouldnt really help anything if they did, through the other things that they are doing though, it is helping us) They hate MSN jsut as much as anyone else. We need to support corporations that support us and open protocols/software. Everyone needs to open their eyes. Just my 2 cents.
To everyone that believes that Microsoft pays $25 for every copy of Windows XP that they ship... Uh no - it is actually somewhere in the 15 cents range (plus they get the benefit of having a monopoly and including advertising such as Internet Explorer). And that's what it's worth.
article here
Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
It worked for my home loan & saved me many 10s of thousands of dollars.
eh, for cost broadband is pretty cheap when you factor in a phone line and how much you pay for acces. I'm trying to get my parents to get a cable modem because it cost less then their current dial up setup. And they live in the middle of no where and can get a cable modem (granted thats probably more of a rare odity). But at the same time there is very limited dial up service there so they pay over 20 dollars a month for just that.
I currently pay 29 bucks a month for a cable modem. When i consider the cost of a phone line and access it would be silly to go dial up. But then you also need ot be in a area where this is offered. And as we all know internet access varies greatly.
But I think the bulk of people anymore could get broadband for similar price to dialup.
True. And if AOL did the same thing, then they might have something good on their hands.
Perhaps if AOL would by me an iMac or an eMac, then I'd pay for AOL for a couple years.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Once you add in the monitor and the printer.
Nice try though.
paintball
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
This is right in line with their per-user marketing budget. I remember talking to one of their marketing drones back in my .com days and he babbled on and on that the rule of thumb there is to spend $115 marketing dollars for each user they get. I'd actually be surprised if the $699 computer for $585.80 (~$115 difference) was a stupid coincidence and not a key point on a white board somewhere.
Or maybe AOL has tried it before? I'm not sure, but either way, here's a little better idea of what that PC will really be like...& mode=classic
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20020929
"I like you, but I wouldn't want to see you working with subatomic particles."
AOL forgot to mention that the parts used in these computers are likely the cheapest and most poorly made junk from Taiwan that, when put together into a cheap PC such as this, will be lucky enough to last 3 months, 6 months means it's blessed, and if it lasts more then a year then consider yourself VERY LUCKY.
You must master your joystick like a fisherman masters bait! - Gimpy
It's actually $50. I should know I just read the release from Microsoft and... =o)
I used to work in a camera store that sold cell phones, too. (Don't ask me why a camera store would bother will cell phones, because I'm still not sure.) One thing I learned: mobile phones still cost the phone companies more than the 99 dollars they sell them for -- the companies are swallowing the cost of the phone because they hope to make it up with a few years of phone bills.
It works, too, because... (wait for it)... people don't want to change their phone numbers. (Another reason the cell companies dislike number portability). AOL is assuming the same thing will happen with their service -- customers will decide it's too much work to change it, stick with AOL for years, and repay AOL's investment.
(Besides, AOL is an evil megacorporation. If they don't make their money back, they'll just find a way to write it off on their taxes.)
Proud to be / Smiley-free / Since Nineteen / Ninety-Three
OK - I know I'm replying in a humourless fashion to a joke but...
You know, I'd never thought of that angle before. Does this mean if I buy software mail-order, when it arrives it's legally mine and not some license-restricted thing? That is to say, because it came in the post I can do whatever I want with it, including copying it to multiple machines etc.?
I don't believe the above is true by the way, but I can't put my finger on exactly why not.
Cheers,
Ian
Great. Until now, when a client told me that their "aol wasn't working", I understood that to mean that they were having trouble with their internet connection. Now, it might mean trouble with their hard drive, cd, monitor, office suite, keyboard, ...
Evil is the money of root.
There are 2 main reasons why people chose WebTV...
This "deal" addresses the low initial cost (somewhat) but isn't fundamentally different than the rebate deals offered a few years back for MSN and Prodigy.
When all is said and done, they end up with the same "complex" PC they chose to avoid (reason #2).
I purchased a WebTV setup for my parents 2 years ago, and in less than an hour, my Mom and Dad who had never used a computer (or anything with a keyboard) before were able to email and surf the web. They feel very comfortable with it and use it to keep in touch with the family (we're spread to the 4 corners of the globe)
They like WebTV so much, that they picked up a 2nd WebTV terminal at Electronics Boutique for $10 to use at their Summer place. With a simple 1 minute phone call, they get can switch the activation of the terminals and avoid having to transport WebTV from their Summer to Winter place.
Now, if they were offering a "locked down" PC with added functionality and rock-solid reliability...THEN, it could be a good alternative/upgrade for WebTV users.
"With this action AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse."
Uhhhh.... how is this different from Microsoft controlling all that when you buy a Dell, Gateway et. al.?
Besides they are running XP so I'm not sure where the idea that they control the OS comes from, and last I checked you could browse the entire Internet with the AOL client (just glorified IE).
Finally what's "AOL Office Powered by Sun"? OpenOffice (or StarOffice) rebranded again is my guess. How is that a bad thing?
The Anti-Blog
Well, where I live broadband is $40-45 a month, which is (according to a survey I just read) the national average, while the cost or AOL is $24 a month, which gets you internet access and also the AOL stuff. So assuming that you're not paying for a phone line just for internet access (a few people also use telephone lines to talk to people) dial is still cheaper...
Enable 3D printed prosthetics!
I am heavy Linux user and I bought one.
You ask why? Well, my in-laws need a computer, and they need internet access for that computer.
I could have built them a computer, but it would be hard for me to build something reasonable for a decent price and still pay for Windows XP. Yes, I personally use Linux, but I can't expect the in-laws to use Linux. They have never owned a computer in their life. They are in their 60s and this would be their first computer.
So, they get a decent computer with internet access (which I am paying for) for 1 year with AOL service.
After 1 year, they could switch to the econo-AOL service, or another cheap ISP.
New Dells (even lowest models) come with 6 months of aol or earthlink dial-up, so this 12 months thing is really not worth it. I'm sure other companies have similar arrangements.
$8.95/mo web hosting
Just so we're clear:
.217/12*299*12+299 = .217*299+299
To determine how much you're going to pay if you buy a $299 computer and make equal monthly payments on an account with 21.7% annual interest compounded monthly, we can approximate with this formula:
Total Paid =
Total Paid = 64.88+299=363.88
Just to be clear.
AOL is basically taking the model the cellphone industry uses and applying it to online services. When you get that oh-so-wonderful "free" phone, your contract finances the phone. If you lost the phone and tried to get another one, that phone would be at least $150. All that AOL has to do is run credits and take security deposits and they're all set.. only...
Oh wait, the people who have credit to do this probably have a computer already, and the people who really need the el cheapo computer with the crappy internet service won't pass credit.
Good luck AOL.
I thought Dell decided recently that it didn't want to have anything to do with "better".
The margin is to thin to be padding very much on the OEM cd cost.
SUre the may roll it over to 35 bucks, but that isn't even close to 200 bucks retail.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
the ability to edit posts on slashdot would be a mistake. Trolls/flamers would write perfectly nice posts, then change them later.
I've never seen where being able to edit posts improve a site.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Though that may be easier for those AOLers out there.
Here's a nice example:
http://toastytech.com/guis/bob2.html
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
A nice business if you can get it
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them