Free IBM Computers For UK Households

Albanach writes "The Scotland on Sunday newspaper is reporting that UK firm Metronomy are offering 200,000 IBM PCs free of charge to UK households. Of course, there is a catch - advertising. Accepting the terms and conditions will get users a free IBM PC running Windows XP, but they will also be required to watch three minutes of TV style advertising for every hour of computer use and undertake to use the PC for a minimum of 30 hours per month."

Comments

Only three minutes?

[Zocalo]

ONLY three minutes! You mean there are Windows XP boxes out thre that only force you to watch that advert for Windows XP you get after a reboot for three minutes every hour? Where do I sign up?

*stares at OSDL ads*

[Dark Lord Seth]

I get to deal with 12+ hours of watching advertisements per month on my NON-FREE, PAID computer already. Go figure.

how to circumvent

[Barbarian]

1) Get the computer.
2) Reverse-engineer the network traffic.
3) Setup old 486 to simulate the PC receiving ads and simulate user activity.
4) Reinstall OS
5) ???
6) Profit!

How could this work?

[Doomrat]

A DRM system may be able to enforce this in most cases, but the techno-literate will bypass it.

Maybe it's going to be enforced differently, though. Perhaps each time you watch an advertisement you will have to take down a code, or connect to a remote server - if you don't submit the code or the server doesn't record your view, somebody will physically come and take the computer away (and kill your pets).

A sneaky way to avoid the advertising.

[peterpi]

Don't tell anybody, but when the adverts start, I'm going to CLOSE MY EYES! heheheee!

Re:How long till it gets hacked?

[CrystalChronicles]

www.adaware.com might be a useful bookmark for those who take up the offer.

Re:How long till it gets hacked?

[mackstann]

Reminds me of this program:

Xwrits is a small reminder program designed to let you know it is time
to take a break from typing to rest your wrists and prevent any damage
to your wrists (or at least make them feel better if you've already
damaged them). Normally works on the honor system, but if you find
yourself unable to stop typing during your break, it can also lock your keyboard.

This company should be applauded for being so thoughtful!

There's so much production

[tjstork]

that at some point we will wind up being paid to take all of the goods there are to produce.

Re:Thanks for the whitespace!

[Ingolfke]

Nope... he just forgot to insert the ads.

Re:I'm sure they've thought of that

[matthaney]

"What this would be good for would be places like Internet cafes where you can let IBM pick up the support tab. They'll probably put somethng in the TOS to rule that out."

"5) ... This offer is restricted to one PC per household.

That would probably be it...

Re:tsarkon reports on ommpah loompa land

[rstidman]

That could not have been less funny if it had had a link to child porn.

Re:This is DOOMED

[pdbaby]

Except it's unlikely that the users of this system are going to be viddying a bit of the old ultra-violence...

Re:My name is Marc John Jeffries...

[flewp]

Looking for work like the rest of the PeoplePC employees?

Re:did you read your post?

[sheimers]

Perhaps you could "watch" the ads in a minimized vmware window ;-)

Stefan

Hey! Metronomy!

[Theatetus]

1998 called. They want their business model back.

Re:Why the U.K.?

[Anonymous Coward]

PS All figures are from the Economist indicators section for November 22nd-28th 2003. This is slashdot. We don't want none of your namby pamby fact checking around here!

Only 30 hours a month?

[Anonymous Coward]

They only require 30 hours of PC use a month? That's nothing! I spend 30 hours a day on my computer!

Re:doomed to fail?

[dubiousmike]

"If the demographic group has little disposable income, advertising time with that demographic just isnt worth very much."

What about ads for cigarette and scratch tickets? People with nearly no income seem to gravitate towards these products.