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Microsoft's PC utility
May 22, 2006
Microsoft is today announcing a utility-like computing service for PCs, called FlexGo, aimed at providing poor people with a low-cost means of getting a computer. The service essentially applies the model of pay-as-you-go mobile phone service to the personal computer. A service provider, such as a retailer or a telephone company or even a bank, offers customers a PC for free or at a sharp discount and then charges a fee based on the customer's actual usage, either through monthly billings or prepaid cards. The idea is to provide people who lack cash and credit a new way to get a PC, PC software, and internet service. As Slashdot notes, it's a kind of time-sharing system applied to personal computing. It's not a new idea - companies like SimDesk have been offering a similar model for some time - but it should get a significant boost with Microsoft's power behind it.
This is, of course, Microsoft's counterstrike against efforts, such as the $100 PC developed by MIT and supported by Google, to supply cheap computing through specialized, low-cost PCs that run open source software. The advantage of the FlexGo program is that it gives people access to the broad range of Windows-compatible software that already exists. As Tim Bajarin says in a Mercury News piece, "even in poor villages, the kids know the difference between a machine that will get them Internet access and a true PC that they can play games on." The contest between the two very different models should be an interesting one.
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Comments
"a kind of time-sharing system applied to personal computing"...doesn't sound like it--from the info supplied, it appears this is all about pay-as-you-go billing, not about utility computing in the sense of centralized resources serving multiple users.
Posted by: photoncourier.blogspot.com ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.roughtype.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 22, 2006 11:58 AM
Yes, you're right. It has a utility pricing model (metered usage, tracked centrally) but not a utility provisioning model (centralized resources). An important distinction. Thanks.
Posted by: Nick Carr at May 22, 2006 12:16 PM
Amazon recently rolled out a storage utility at 15c a a month for a gig
like with SaaS incumbents will be the last to offer the service - in this case, where are the IBM's HP's?
Posted by: vinnie mirchandani at May 22, 2006 01:01 PM
As Tim Bajarin says in a Mercury News piece, "even in poor villages, the kids know the difference between a machine that will get them Internet access and a true PC that they can play games on."
Hogwash, from Bill Gates' own disinformation office.
This is more Microsoft throwing spaghetti at the wall.
Anyone who has digested olpc's objectives understands that it is an education project. These kids will be writing their own games. And then stealing jobs from Tim Bajarin's fat, complacent children.
Posted by: Sam Hiser at May 22, 2006 03:47 PM
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