Free or with one time purchase and possible payments for once in a while big updates.

I am not paying google shit. Or any of them. I will join a privateering crew first.

You sort of can with solutions like MeshLLM

I love computers but never enough to participate in their plans.

I know how to read. Write. Draw. Go on walks. Play sports. Basically sit and watch paint dry than give a shit about not using a computer again

You might, I think I would (at least personally, professionally I may not have a choice) but the vast majority of people will gladly go with this plan I suspect.

Look at car purchasing, most people don’t look at the sticker price or the total cost of ownership, they stop paying attention as long as their income can (and in a lot of cases it technically can but really shouldn’t) support the monthly payment.

Similar thing with new phones, most people buy a service plan that includes a lease or loan on a device. Very few people buy their sevice outright, because that’s a bug purchase vs a smaller monthly payment.

If there was a market for this for laptops, regular folks would eat it up.

That’s all opinion, so take it for what it’s worth. I hope I’m wrong. I’m fearful I’m not.