To get an actual recording of the voice call, just get the Russians or Chinese to hand it over. Others also likely have it.

I'm not sure what the current life span is for the battery in the typical cell phone or other portable device under normal use, but if this technology can be used on a small form scale, it would be great.

And of cource, the improved lifespan would also be very useful for home and grid size electric energy storage systems.

Does this mean home users will require new hardware - router, computer, phone, TV interface (Chromcast, etc.) or any other equipment that uses Wi-Fi?

Of course, this would disrupt a fairly large business as well as the tax revenue from tobacco purchases. Whether it would be a positive regarding health care costs or Social Security income, private pensions, private health insurance, etc. vs. payouts of same would require careful analysis. This might even include the analysis of the value of a human life. And, freedom to make choices. This is complicated.

In the long term, Apple will raise prices more than enough to make up for the "free" first year of access. It's possible that those paying $4.99 in the beginning will cover the losses from the "free" users. A problem with this strategy might be that those initial "free" and paid users may cancel the service if they feel it's not worth the even cheap cost.

A Loss-leader until the price goes from $4.99/month to $6.99/month, then $9.99/month, and onwards and upwards. This, whether or not new content is added. Apple is not in the business of losing money or even breaking even on any of its products. Shareholders won't stand for that paradigm, many of whom work for Apple.

The "forever" may depend on the quality of paper and ink used to print your copy. Digital copies may have a limited lifetime on your ability to access them. A single neutrino or a small flux of them and other problems, such as heat, rf energy, magnetic or electric fields, etc., as well as software availability or changes may prove the undoing of the digital readability.

By libraries doing this, e-book publishers might find their income reduced more than the OP proposal. Of course, library users would need to carry around the more bulky product called a book.

The percentages of relative electric energy production don't really tell the whole story. Though the fraction of electrical energy production from coal has dropped to 21% which is less than the percentage from wind, the use of coal to produce electricity may be increasing as more energy is needed for increased usage from population increase, industrial increase and elsewhere. What are the actual annual MWhr of electric energy produced from each source, say, for each of the last 20 years? This would be more enlightening than just the percentages for a few years.

I think what you describe is communism, not socialism.

When Foxconn tries this scam in another US state, will the state pony up the tax incentives? Let's hope not. Then again, Foxconn could promise not to repeat what it did to Wisconsin. Ya, sure.

Ya, I know "everyone" has these kinds of clauses. If one of the telecoms suffered significant damage, maybe others might reconsider their position(s). Ultimately, congress might need to change laws. That's a real long shot considering the current and future funding of congresspersons.

Perhaps the best solution would be every one who is able should cancel their T-Mobile subscription and move elsewhere. Of course, maybe the others have a similar situation. Either way, T-Mobile - and others - might reconsider their arbitration clauses. The threat of stock radical depreciation might give mobile telecoms a message.

Hydro electric generation doesn't suffer these kinds of problems. Take a look at Norway as an example. The problem in the USA is that not every place is capable of storing the water for that purpose, and if so, may not be able store enough to supply enough for a significant fraction of demand.

My readings of various newspapers is that they have very little news and what they contain is mostly features, such as diet suggestions, agony columns, food recipe pages and on-and-on. There seems to be more information about sports than actual news, though if you're interested in baseball box scores, you're covered in spades.