This means they are not adhering to what, exactly? I don't think the EFF claimed this was an open sourced app, and I know that the EFF doesn't think that open source is the only legitimate license to develop apps under.

Why not? I'm not seeing the problem there.

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Something which has nothing to do with Android and everything to do with the agreements between cellphone manufacturers and carriers.

I disagree. With the iPhone, I am only allowed to install and use software that Apple says that I can, in ways that Apple says that I can. Android has no such limitation. That's a far more massive infringement on my freedom than not being able to uninstall a piece of crapware.

Web apps don't count, have never counted, and never will count. That's why Apple deigned to allow people to write real apps -- something they adamantly did not want to allow when the iPhone was first released.

True as far as it goes. But, firstly, iOS isn't the most popular platform, so choosing not to develop for it isn't automatically a terrible decision. If I were the EFF, I would do the same thing. Nobody should ever accept contractual terms they find objectionable, and especially not if their objection is that the terms are counter to the primary goals of the organization. Staying true to your ethics, particularly for an organization like the EFF, is critically important.

That's a massive distortion. They aren't preventing iPhone users from using their app. They would love to be able to develop one for the iPhone. They are simply electing not to enter into a contractual agreement that they object to. I think it's unfair to paint this as some kind of malicious act against iPhone users. Nobody is ever obligated to enter into contracts.

It sure sounds like you are. You are, in effect, saying that the EFF is somehow morally obligated to make a deal with the devil because that would let them reach a sizable minority of people.

Maybe in Apple's world, but in the rest of the world this isn't true. While most "free" apps are spammy or coercive, there are tons that are not. They're just excellent apps, provided at no cost, including no advertising, in-app purchases, or data mining. I've written many such applications myself over the decades, and continue to do so.

That contract has always been fairly egregious and overbearing, and is the reason why I don't develop for iOS for my own products. I have, and will, develop for iOS as an employee or contractor for someone else, though, since I don't have to sign that stupid agreement for that.

Not me. There is nobody in Hoolywood that I would trust with any of those stories.

First, "MInority Report" wasn't really very loopy or complex, so that's a weird comparison to make. Second, yet another zombie movie? No thanks. I'm zombied out for the next decade or two.

Why is this an important thing to point out? Everyone knows it, and it is totally irrelevant to the discussion of whether or not the NSA is behaving properly.

Also irrelevant to the underlying issue. You seem to be trying to argue that the NSA is actually a good organization that acts responsibly and appropriately. I disagree. Whatever good it does (and yes, it does some good) is overshadowed by the bad.

Personally, I partially agree with TheGratefulNet. Trying to obstruct NSA surveillance is a good thing -- even a patriotic thing. My agreement is partial, though, because the best thing to do is try to protect yourself from all attackers, not just the NSA. Fortunately, what you have to do to accomplish that is the same regardless of who the attacker is.

Which means that Windows 8 UI design was not in a good place. If you have to use third party software to fix something, that means it was broken.

Which means that Office is not in a good place as well. Office is much worse than it used to be even though it is, as you say, mostly reliable. It's also a huge pain in the ass to use. I know a lot of people who use Office, but I don't know anyone who says that Office is a wonderful piece of software. The only reason that they don't change is because of the lock-in effect.

As someone who uses that developer software every single day, I disagree. It is stable, but it also has some real usability problems. As to the cloud, as I said before, I don't know and don't care as I have no interest in the cloud and therefore haven't been following their offerings at all.

That's funny -- because while what you say about them is true, the software updates didn't even occur to me since they have never caused me a single problem. Unlike much of the rest of their software.

Yes, this latest fad (or at least I hope that it's a fad) of rolling releases is doing great harm to the quality of software being released as a whole by the industry. It's also causing all kinds of other problems both technical and in terms of user experience. This approach can't die fast enough.

He was competent, but certainly not brilliant. What he was brilliant at was marketing.

God, I miss the Newton.

Audio software that can't handle broken MP3 tags is audio software with a pretty major bug.

I'm one of those! I just looked at my call log. In December, I placed a total of three calls from my cell phone.