I don't think the Google exec is listening to himself. If I am concerned with the security and privacy of my data then where it is stored and who has access to it are going to be pretty close to the top of the list of thing to be concerned about. Google still might be an ok place for it, but exec's saying things like this make me more than a little uneasy.

That can't be what was patented because the Toyota Prius with that kind of drive has been on the market far longer than 2006.
If only Series 3 Prius's are affected I am really having a hard time figuring out what is involved. The summing gearbox has been a selling point of the Prius for 10 years now or so.

The fact that it is so recent a patent makes me think the article isn't real accurate.

That billion dollar price includes the communication system between the aerostats radar and the targeting radar of other systems like anti-aircraft missile systems. So it is a very misleading number. I would guess the "blimp" or really aerostat part is less than 5% of the total cost. This is really an integrated detector system that happens to use a blimp as one of its inputs.

Right on - Neilson's customers really aren't the broadcasters or the producers. It is the advertisers. If the people paying have to rely on the broadcasters for figures without absolute transparency, well they won't pay. That is the card Neilson is playing here. They are independent and conservative in their estimates of audience. I bet they have real good models that track their current methodology to actual sales for major advertisers.

Who cares about average use? The cost is driven by the PEAK use. That is why the average use for HBA's is almost nothing, but you are paying double the money or more because of the 8 hours a month you need to smoke. And woe betide the Architect who suggest postponing a business meeting for 48 hour every month so he can save $20 million a year. Seriously.