The concept involves a five-year federal subsidy to help the nation's poor get online. But this has the feel of one of those well-meaning partnerships with industry in which the government gives away the store. But the program is likely to grow substantially. Its backers hope to eventually reach all 9 million households on the food-stamp rolls. What's soft-headed in the deal becomes clear in its details, which have so far been reported in remarkably foggy fashion.
Payments cease after three years.
The catch is in where this money goes, and what it buys. That's precisely what these computers are expected to be worth on the open market. During the five years envisioned for the initiative, the price of computers is expected to drop precipitously, which means that Be and any other firm shrewd enough to cash in on the deal may do quite nicely. But there's nothing in the ClickStart business plan spelling that out. And doing so will take some very aggressive oversight, for which the feds do not have a particularly stellar record.