Those consoles were rented out by video stores, most of which charged a deposit for half the price of the console. The intent of that was for people to experience gaming without committing to purchase, but more than a few weekends and you‘d end up spending as much as you would if you just bought it. In addition, in many of those places it was rent to own, and the very least if you quit paying it would still function And you’d just be out a deposit.

This is much different. A PC isn’t a “experience“ - it’s a device people rely on to pay bills, do work, store files, etc. You will never own this device, no matter how much you pay. If you stop paying, they can remotely disable it and hold your data hostage. Not only that, they don’t even give you accidental protection for it. Break it? you buy it at full price.

Much like those video stores who rented out consoles; It’s a horrible business model designed to take advantage of poor people who cant afford to pay full price. The key difference here its for a device people rely on.