We actually had this in Portugal as a service from the local cable operator at the time and I'm guilty for developing some apps for it. Microsoft pushed really hard for the partnership and the telco operator went along because, well, marketing. Horrible horrible thing.

This could have been something if it was done right. My 78 year old mom with her iPad believes the internet is Amazon, Facebook and Instagram.

Really, anything low cost that could put the internet in someone's hands was a good thing. A lot of PCs in the 90s were U$1500+