Microsoft thinks they may have come up with a new way to print money. In a patent filed on Christmas day, Microsoft outlined a new model for pay-as-you-go computing.

The PC would essentially be free, and then whenever you used it you would be charged based on the type of application you were using. The interesting thing about it is, this could be something that would actually work. Seems to me like a good way to get low cost systems to people who only occasionally need access. Until the product is actually launched however, I’ll remain skeptical.