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Microsoft Invents $1.15/Hour Homework Fee For Kids
theodp writes "Microsoft's vision of your computing future is on display in its just-published patent application for the Metered Pay-As-You-Go Computing Experience. The plan, as Microsoft explains it, involves charging students $1.15 an hour to do their homework, making an Office bundle available for $1/hour, and billing gamers $1.25 for each hour of fun. In addition to your PC, Microsoft also discloses plans to bring the chargeback scheme to your cellphone and automobile — GPS, satellite radio, backseat video entertainment system. 'Both users and suppliers benefit from this new business model,' concludes Microsoft, while conceding that 'the supplier can develop a revenue stream business that may actually have higher value than the one-time purchase model currently practiced.' But don't worry kids, that's only if you do more than 52 hours of homework a year!"
'Both users and suppliers benefit from this new business model'
Only Microsoft could try to call a business model 'new', when hotels and hookers have used it for centuries.
At least its obvious what they are now
What's to prevent me from hacking the software/hardware to liberate it? Of course that is if I even buy one in the first place.
My kid has been told many times just to copy and paste from Wikipedia, I mean told by his teachers. Its most distressing.
I have brought the issue up at his school in meetings, but it seems that the tickbox teaching that the UK now relies upon is more interested in achieving teaching goals then actually educating the pupils.
Given that his IT class seems to really be 'how to use Microsoft products', I wouldn't be surprised if this service became part of the UK education provision system. Angry and disgusted yes, surprised no.
Lastly, dude, having a sig that would nuke a Linux system if applied isn't exactly friendly. On the other hand, I guess it would conform to the natural selection approach to weeding out morons, so perhaps its ok...
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
my kids get free "hand me down" PCs & printer with Linux & OpenOffice pre-installed to do homework on, (no subscription necessary)
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
This whole summary is a troll. Technology businesses file many patents every year that they'll never implement. Patents are like munitions. You stockpile them in case you need to go to war, and to prevent others from attacking you. Balmer's saber rattling about Linux infringing on multiple Microsoft patents is the perfect example of this. (Though it's an example of the more sinister uses of patents).
AccountKiller
Just because someone is in college doesn't mean that they are in the know, and realize that choice even exists. The other thing is that Microsoft cleverly charges considerably less for "student" versions of their software, getting kids hooked early. A buddy of mine picked up a student copy of Office 2007 for $60, where as I think as a company we pay close to $400 per seat for a VLK.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
So 20 people leave their PCs on with the screen saver before they go on a two-week vacation, don't notice they still have documents open somewhere, and they get back a bill of $1.25 X 16 days (2 weeks plus the extra weekend) X 24 hours X 20 people, or $9,600.00.
That will happen exactly ONCE before they all switch to anything else ... at that point, even vim or pico look better.
Kevin Smith on Prince
Excellent point. Unless MS isn't charging for the time in-between keystrokes. In which case their pricing scheme might be worth it. =)
Which reminds me of something. I've closed Word on my work machine before when I've had a document open on a USB stick. Then try to USB eject the stick and it won't go. Go into task manager and see that some word-ish program still has an open handle on it.
Run task manager, kill the exe, and I can eject the USB drive. No real problem but it raises a question: What if this stray process was billing me?
Weaselmancer
rediculous.