Here’s a great post that explains the new pricing model announced yesterday for Windows Azure platform AppFabric usage. At first read, this new model makes sense to me and seems quite reasonable, in addition to being more predictable for customers.
http://blogs.msdn.com/netservices/archive/2010/01/04/announcing-windows-azure-platform-commercial-offer-availability-and-updated-appfabric-pricing.aspx