Asiatotal's iT: the return of the "free" PC

Every few years, it seems, the idea of a "free" PC resurfaces;
usually, it's a computer that you pick up via a long-term commitment to an ISP, like the
boxes People PC used to offer. The latest wrinkle, the iT
from Hong Kong's Asiatotal, is a little different. The iT is a stripped-down desktop running Windows CE, with a 7-inch LCD and a 400 MHz processor. Asiatotal plans to give away the iT in developing markets, via a sponsorship model: the computer includes 10 dedicated hotkeys for sponsors. It's an interesting concept, and one that could potentially reach the developing world more rapidly than the
much-heralded $100 PC — the profit motive tends to make things happen a little more quickly than altruism. However, it remains to be seen whether Asiatotal can sell enough ads to make this work, and whether advertisers, once on board, are willing to stick around long enough to turn this into a mass-market product.

[Via TrustedReviews]