I've been predicting this for quite a while -- specifically from Microsoft. ("Bill your credit card again for next 30 minutes of CPU? Yes/No")

Microsoft has applied for a patent on metered, pay-as-you-go computing.
Under a Microsoft proposal, consumers would receive heavily discounted PCs, then pay fees for usage.

Under a Microsoft proposal, consumers would receive heavily discounted PCs, then pay fees for usage.

U.S. patent application number 20080319910, published on Christmas Day, details Microsoft's vision of a situation where a "standard model" of PC is given away or heavily subsidized by someone in the supply chain. The end user then pays to use the computer, with charges based on both the length of usage time and the performance levels utilized, along with a "one-time charge."

Microsoft notes in the application that the end user could end up paying more for the computer, compared with the one-off cost entailed in the existing PC business model, but argues the user would benefit by having a PC with an extended "useful life."

Do you think most consumers would freely choose this? Somehow, I doubt it. I suspect -- and always have, from day one -- that it's a vision which will be impossible to fulfill without a little "help" from the government, in the form of legal restrictions.