“The domestic digital divide movement, to its credit, understands that the cost of services (you pay by the month) is more burdensome than the cost of goods (you bought it you own it) for the American of meager means.”

Damn straight. And an ever increasing portion of the stuff we consume is governed, not by “you bought it you own it,” but by the user license agreement. Thanks to ephemeralization, the actual labor and material costs in most commodities is negligible compared to the embedded rents on “intellectual property.” And IP makes it possible to give hardware away and then make a selling on service contracts, replacement parts, toner cartridges for printers, etc.