Earthlink offering Linux desktops for "only" $69.99

We thought the era of the "cheap" PC hustle — deals that offer buyers a computer for a low upfront price but lock them into a long-term contract with an ISP — ended when
Earthlink swallowed up People PC
a few years ago and turned the seller of $24.95-a-month PCs into a straight budget ISP. But it looks like Earthlink can't get these deals out of their system, since they're now offering Linux-powered PCs starting at "only" $69.99 with a one-year commitment to their $21.95 dial-up service. That works out to about $333 over the course of a year, for a box with a 1.5 GHz AMD Sempron, a 40GB HDD and no optical burner or monitor. That's about the same as you'd spend on a low-end Dell with a 2.4GHz Celeron, 80GB HDD, CD-RW and 17-inch CRT. Sure, you don't get dial-up service as part of the deal, but then, if you're really jonesing for dial-up, why not just get PeoplePC or NetZero for $10 a month and pick your own PC?