A middle of the line pentium 4 computer and monitor. Some start-up company was going to make a mint (they thought) by giving away computers that they were going to sell ads on. You had to provide your own internet connection and remain online for at least 8 hours a week. The ad console took up about a third of the screen and cycled through different ads. After 24 months, the computer was yours to keep.
They went out of business after about 3 months, because they clearly didn't think things through. 8 hours a week was pretty easy, log on before you went to bed, sign off when you woke up, one day a week. Ads viewed = 0. They sent certified letters requesting the hardware back, but since they didn't have the money to pay for shipping, if you wanted to keep it, that was cool too. Wiped it, put a clean install of XP on it and a decent graphic card in it, and gamed for several years.
A middle of the line pentium 4 computer and monitor. Some start-up company was going to make a mint (they thought) by giving away computers that they were going to sell ads on. You had to provide your own internet connection and remain online for at least 8 hours a week. The ad console took up about a third of the screen and cycled through different ads. After 24 months, the computer was yours to keep.
They went out of business after about 3 months, because they clearly didn't think things through. 8 hours a week was pretty easy, log on before you went to bed, sign off when you woke up, one day a week. Ads viewed = 0. They sent certified letters requesting the hardware back, but since they didn't have the money to pay for shipping, if you wanted to keep it, that was cool too. Wiped it, put a clean install of XP on it and a decent graphic card in it, and gamed for several years.
Hand me down computers and Linux to go on them. Free pet rats from a friend.