Well, I'd imagine the cost difference is because we have engineers/developers/etc who make about 10-20 times the amount of their Indian counterparts. Yes, NASA pays exhorbinant costs (take a look at how much private companies are paying for their shuttles vs NASA) . You also have to compare American cost of labor/parts vs India. Now can someone run the metrics of cost of services/goods of India vs America? Take that factor into account and give us an adjusted price difference

I agree with the last mile comment. Google, however, is not going to build out more than a few markets. For them this is an experiment, to show that prices can be cheaper and the product can be of better quality - as far as they can demonstrate in a few tiny markets. Try and build a national infrastructure - with data centers sending out that much content, with cables being lined through every city/town/neighborhood - this is an astronomical and mind-blowing logistics nightmare. The barrier to entry into this market is not gov't, it's the cost and willpower to get in. For google to become a competitor they will actually have to expand to major markets. While I wish they would, they can't - it's incredibly difficult. Once they do so, their costs will go up substantially. Again, I hope they do manage to do this, but I am not holding my breath - and nobody else should

While I prefer new to refurb, and was once infuriated where my brand new (35 day old phone) which broke was replaced by a refurb, the refurbs are actually really good. These phones have been re-serviced and look new. When you get your refurb, other than knowing it's a refurb, there is no difference. They replace the body, and any broken components. It's like a new phone, except they can't claim it as new. Yes it's frustrating to wait a day to get the phone (possibly more if over weekend and holiday), but without increasing costs (dramatically) they will not keep in stock every single phone they keep. First off, it could be a 2 year old phone that is no longer produced. Do you think they will keep 100 of those laying around? Multiply that by every phone the store has sold and you can see where it would become a logistics nightmare, and really expensive. Meaning, your costs would go up. The phone companies are not stupid - if they could keep the phones stocked and not overnight you a phone (which definitely costs money) they would do so.

It's a microsoft product

fix't

That doesn't mean this will suck. There is no reason to not give something a chance other then to be a naysayer. BTW, not that I read them, but I know many people who are huge fans of the star wars and star trek books...fans which some like the star wars/trek movies and some do not.

In the end, instead of saying "this is gonna suck" without any basis (and none of us have ANY basis since the author hasn't even written it) we should give it a shot. I am looking forward to this. I enjoyed the LOTR movies and hope to enjoy these two hobit ones.

I remember the tv show, beyond 2000, back in the early 90s. One of the items they talked about was being able to fax someone objects. So you would scan it, and it would send (over the phone lines) a fax to someone who had a similar machine and the machine would create the object.

Is this step 1 to that?

Funny, your message and writing style seem remarkably like this guy Copy So did you copy from this guy, or are you dual accounting?

How is the above insightful? How is that poster anymore then a standard nay-saying fanboy? The person is shooting down a sequel BEFORE it is even written let alone time for him to read it before it is filmed.

I swear we wonder how we get people in congress who shoot down ideas or pass retarded laws that make no sense - when they have no clue about the subject matter (e.g. IP, copyright, net neutrality, patents)....well don't wonder anymore - our local politicians are doing the same thing the OP is doing speaking before they know what the subject matter entails...

I've been holding off on getting LOTR set for bluray until this came out. I was wavering and even a week ago thought "maybe i should just buy it, there won't be a hobit movie"...glad to know my stubborness is paying off.

Oh, that's quite easy. "Bring me a bag of gold...your reward...a ration". Failing = death, not doing the quest equals finding new work (e.g. being fired and getting a new job, assuming you meet the level requirements aka skillset)

Really - your eyeballs can get files off a device? So should I call you Jordi LaForge?

Not that I would use this service (I prefer having the physical media), but if I get to d/l it to my computer, and it resides there as long as I so choose to keep it then I own the right to view the movie as much as I want. I don't own the movie, that ownership resides with the company that released it...but I own the right to view it. Same thing if I buy a dvd from a store. It's about preference. My friend prefers to have his movies on hard drive, i prefer to keep it on disk.

It's a funny looking picture. How many famous scientists put out a picture like that? He is also one of the most recognizable faces in the science community. Yes there are more famous people - but do we know what they look like? How many of these scientists have multiple movies based on their lives? It's more then his political agenda.

Scientific studies performed without a reason have historically produced results that we can apply to practical applications. This doesnt' always happen and then someone comes around saying "but why are we wasting money on X worthless study"....but what if that study gave us some new piece of knowledge that helped us in some way? What if that study will help someone five, ten, fifteen, one-hundreed years from now?

So studies that seem worthless today may be great tomorrow. The studies may return immediate useful results. Then there is always - because we are curious and satisfying our curiousity and feeding our brains (we are explorers) is a good thing.