Who profits from the great computer giveaway? 
By News.com staff
October 8, 1999, 4 a.m. PT  Can free PCs really pay off?
The companies giving away computers at best can expect a few hundred dollars in gross profit per customer. That makes other revenues vitally important. But will any of this make money? ISPs caught in rebate frenzy
Internet service providers are offering large rebates to computer buyers who sign up with them. These deals initially bring the ISPs precariously close to the red--but they say the risk is well worth taking. The rebirth of CompuServe
Until recently, upscale CompuServe was described as the ISP version of the New York Times while AOL resembled USA Today. Now, with CompuServe drafted into the battle for cheap Internet access, it might be more fitting to call it the Main Street Gazette. Looking for escape clauses
You may have scored a real bargain by signing up for three years of Internet service in return for getting a personal computer for next to nothing. But there may not be much you can do to break the contract if busy signals and dropped connections plague the service. | 
