So everyone's still buzzing about this whole "free iMac" thing, which doesn't sound like all that bad of a deal: $718.20 for a new iMac plus three years or Internet service is pretty nifty. Of course, you also have to agree to accept a slew of advertising, which makes the deal a bit less sweet-- we're already exposed to more ads than we know what to do with. But dozens of viewers have written in pointing out that, while the "free" iMac comes with various strings attached, cutting those strings doesn't sound all that tough.

Let's look at what you need to do to get a free iMac, based on the plan FreeMac's been announcing... First, you have to qualify for FreeMac's credit card. (The implication is that you also have to get said credit card, though that's not explicitly stated in the press release.) Then you have to agree to pay $19.95 for Earthlink Internet access for a period of three years. And finally, you have to agree to what will presumably constitute an aggressive long-term advertising campaign that, just possibly, will never expire-- just like spam, only this time you'd be asking for it. So what's to stop someone from cutting up the credit card, reformatting the iMac's hard drive to wipe out the 2 GB of pre-loaded ads, and simply using another ISP? Just because you pay for Earthlink access doesn't mean you have to use it. Let 'em fill up your Earthlink mailbox with spam; if you never use the account, it won't affect you a bit.

Think about it: if you don't use the access, that $19.95 monthly Earthlink fee could actually be considered a three-year, no-interest payment plan on a $718.20 iMac-- with no sales tax, to boot. You won't find a better deal on a new iMac anywhere. Now, it's important to note that FreeMac's program hasn't started yet, and the actual terms of the deal haven't been set in stone yet. While it's possible that it just never occurred to the folks over at FreeMac that it's not hard to reformat an iMac's hard drive and simply never use the three years of Internet service, we find it hard to believe that they'd overlook such an obvious loophole. (If they did overlook it, they've got bigger problems to solve.) For instance, who's to say that when the final terms of the deal appear, they don't include stuff about "required monthly web site visits" or even "postal and telephone marketing"? And if they pull something really restrictive like that, how many people do you think will actually sign up? It's clear to us that Apple's wise to steer very clear of the whole "free computer" fad. We won't know exactly what FreeMac's going to require until next month, but one thing we know for sure is that nothing's free. At least, iMacs sure aren't.