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From: anderson@uwmacc.UUCP (Jess Anderson)
Newsgroups: net.unix,net.unix-wizards,misc.misc
Subject: Re: Unix box for $10 a month!  Is this a scam?
Message-ID: <366@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 17-Oct-86 10:27:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.366
Posted: Fri Oct 17 10:27:17 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Oct-86 22:22:37 EDT
References: <230@boake2.UUCP> <564@rna.UUCP>
Followup-To: misc.misc
Organization: UWisconsin-Madison Academic Comp Center
Lines: 43
Xref: mnetor net.unix:5895 net.unix-wizards:8293 misc.misc:21


> In article <230@boake2.UUCP> scott@boake2.UUCP (Scott Boake) writes:
> >...
> >    The Mega-Users' Group is currently campaigning to increase
> >its membership to 100,000. [...]
> >
> >    Your membership fee of $10 per month covers the entire
> >system as follows:
> >  [lotsa good stuff!]
> >
> >    The only membership requirement is that you remain a member
> >through the time your system is shipped to you.  Our analysts
> >project that we will reach our base of 100,000 members in 4-6
> >months.
> 
> 	Here's is what worries me. What if it takes them ten years
> to reach 100,000 members ? What if it takes them three years to
> decide they'll never make 100,000 ? What if they get 90,000 members -
> what incentive do they have for getting the last 10,000 members ? Because...
> 
> 	...They will only ship the systems after they get 100,000 members.
> They don't have to even purchase anything til they get
> 	100,000 members x $10/mo. x 12mos./year x N years.

Very good analysis of the situation! No way to tell if these folks
would *ever* deliver *anything*, but let's assume they're basically
honest (taxes *my* credulity, but that's my problem); in that case,
pretty soon they're getting close to $1,000,000 a month plus earnings
on a whole lot of money. Their incentive *not* to deliver goes up and
up. I mean, I'm totally honest, right (aren't we all?), but I could
be bought to do *almost* anything for the earnings on a million a
month, not to mention the capital! :-) My guess is that some whiz-
bang financial type here on the net could do an interesting projection
on where these people would be in 4 < x < 18 months (other than easy
street). Sounds like a scam to me, but a clever one, I must admit.

-- 
==ARPA:====================anderson@unix.macc.wisc.edu===Jess Anderson======
|      (Please use ARPA if you can.)                     MACC              |
| UUCP: {harvard,seismo,topaz,                           1210 W. Dayton    | 
|    akgua,allegra,ihnp4,usbvax}!uwvax!uwmacc!anderson   Madison, WI 53706 |
| BITNET:                            anderson@wiscmacc   608/263-6988      |
==Words are not just blown air. They have a meaning.=====(Chuang Tsu)=======