Microsoft patent application hints at pay-as-you-go PCs ➹

I distinctly remember that one of the banks I built a LAN for nearly 15 years ago decided to switch most of their stuff to PCs from IBM boxes because IBM was pulling a similar stunt - they would install a full kit of cabinet and configure it to operate at half-capacity (or less) by default, “upgrading” it in place via an activation code. I can see this going out the window in mostly the same way.