From The Dark Side--AOL & Circuit City Join Free PC Movement

According to this NEWS.COM article, AOL has invested in the Korean PC maker E-Machines and has begun offering a $400 discount on AOL's CompuServe internet service with an E-Machines purchase. E-Machines PCs can be had for less than $400, hence are "free" with CompuServe. Circuit city offers a $400 discount on a PC for signing up to CompuServe according to this CNET article. Are these "free" computers worth what they cost? Another question is, will this "free PC" movement force Apple to start up its eWorld ISP again but with a partner like ATT Worldnet who already partners with Excite and others? [Dana Baggett]