Would You Accept Spam In Exchange For A Cheap Connection?
from the I-remember-that-business-model dept
Back in the late nineties there were all sorts of business models built on the idea of giving away something for free and forcing people to accept advertising instead. Thus, you could get a free computer, free internet access, and even a free car - if you just accepted advertising. The problem with almost all of these was that the business model didn't make sense, and none of the companies could stay in business. It's no surprise that people say they're willing to accept spam in exchange for a cheaper internet connection, but that doesn't mean there's enough money in it for companies, or that enough people would really pay attention. In fact, many would sign up, and then try to figure out a way to ditch the spam. That was the end result of almost all of these offerings. People would get the free PC, and then reformat the hard drive, or they would install an application that would block the pop up ads. Forcing people to do something they don't want isn't a particularly compelling business model.
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It was done with the Virgin WebPlayer
Within 2 days, there would be a modified version of Mozilla to 'read' each and every spam message, all the time keeping the connection open and consuming the 'spammers' resources.
It would end up being shut down, just like the Virgin WebPlayer.
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