Microsoft has formerly announced its own venture for bringing PC's to emerging markets. The Flexgo program, which has been piloted in Brazil over the past year, allows consumers in developing nations to purchase a PC at reduced cost, and then pay for the use of it until the entire computer is paid for.

While the Flexgo program may have a do-good appeal to people casually glancing at its objectives, the program is still deeply rooted in the axioms of the western business man. From the press release:

“Microsoft’s trials in Brazil are a small and a significant step in democratizing technology. The experiment demonstrates that by making computing affordable, through innovative business models, we can convert the ‘digital divide’ into a ‘digital dividend,’” said C.K. Prahalad, distinguished university professor at the University of Michigan and author of “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits.” “It is my hope that Microsoft will rapidly diffuse this understanding and approach from Brazil to markets like India, Mexico, China and South Africa. There is an opportunity at the bottom of the pyramid and global firms can ‘do well and do good’ by activating this new category of consumers.”

While Intels announcment earlier this month included plans for donation and an overall commitment for actually empowering regions without access to computers or the internet, Microsofts plan, in this instance, as evidenced above, is soley about profit. Their press release seems to confuse the ethics of aiding people with selling them things, and while the company has committed sums of money to 'empowering' the younger generation in developing nations, this latest move is least of all an attempt at 'doing good'. Given their past marketting success, we can't expect this latest endeavour to not be profitable, and if mobile phones are any indication, the payment strategy should do well. It would be much appreciated however if they could keep the supposed charity out of a strictly margins-related announcement.