This is probably apropos of nothing, but here goes:

Whenever I'm seeking a new job role, and I get a message from some guy looking for someone like me (a software developer) but is crowing about all the funding his company just raised, I simply say, "Gimme some." No, really. You wanna brag about it, then I want some. To paraphrase (quote?) Gandhi, you don't ask, you don't get. (shrug) But in my experience, the real opportunities, the best jobs, those never brag about that.

Otherwise, why are you telling me? Do you think you're going to lull me into thinking I'm going to get rich or something? Do you think that'll make me feel more safe in my new role? Your bragging in itself is a tell. I'll be among the first out the door when you're in trouble, while you keep all your marketing and sales doinks.

...because of Petrone's actions, it's disappointing her penalties weren't more 'maziv.'

It's gotta be all that borscht and Big Macs.

Where did anyone ever get the idea that Microsoft ever does anything for anyone's benefit? Except for Microsoft, of course.

Sometime way back, 2007 or so, Microsoft introduced "Advertising Services Architecture." Right. Did that enable you to sell your shit on Craigslist? No. That enabled Microsoft to push more advertising at you.

Looks like that tech is alive and well today.

...it's to buy and own your own media.

Don't misunderstand me. This service sounds like something to which I'd have subscribed, had I known about it. I have no idea why the service shut down, but you can bet it was due to licensing arrangements and the like. All you know is that you are now deprived of something valuable.

I know that streaming is the shit right now, and that guys like me who still buy audio and video discs and run their own home media servers are viewed as retrogrades. On the other hand, I'm not subject to the caprices of those who run those services, or those who cause those services to be shut down. I get to watch La Jetee any time I like.

Here's hoping FilmStruck comes back, or something even better replaces it.

...that values being clever over doing the right thing, with a cool eye toward the consequences.

Adding melamine to baby formula to jack up the protein content? Clever. Not so clever when babies become sick and die because of kidney failure.

Ripping off designs from other companies? Clever. Not so much money needed for R&D. Not so clever when consumers find out there's an inferior product under that familiar user interface.

Cheating on benchmarks? And so it goes...

Then they could determine if it would blend.

I would argue that 'inconvenient' is a subjective thing. If one is unfortunate to be as stupid as Donald Trump, then *everything* is inconvenient.

Best Buy may have stopped selling CDs, but the problem doesn't exist only with Best Buy.

Shopping for CDs at any major retailer in 2018 is a pointless exercise, unless you're looking for the very latest thing, or greatest hits collections.

When Streetlight and Rasputin's (two indie retailers here in the San Jose area) go out of business, only then will I worry.

Nice work if you can get it.

Could the robots make tacos that look like tacos?

You sound very frightened. You should totally give up your liberty for a sense of security.

You didn't have a real argument, did you?

First off, the danger is known and given the odds of having a fire hazard device and the fact the cause has been established and can be prevented with care, the risk falls within the levels of many other products we're allowed to own.

Second, and more important, I hope they get sued into the ground for this. It is absolutely unacceptable that a product you purchased can be force bricked at the manufacturer's whim. They're intentionally destroying your property. It's like not taking your car in due to a recall notice then the car company shows up and you wake up to a crushed cube in your driveway.
They absolutely have the right to, and probably should, ban the devices from connecting to the cellular network by blacklisting the IMEI like a stolen phone, but the right to just destroy it completely is an extremely dangerous precedent.

Nobody SHOULD want to continue to use that phone, but that shouldn't give the company that made it free reign to destroy your paid-for private property at will.

I couldn't disagree with you more.

An "extremely dangerous precedent" already has been made, which is the release of a device that has proven to be susceptible to fire and explosion. Don't forget that this particular conflagration (a Li-Ion fire) burns under water.

That's one's prerogative to carry such a bomb in one's pocket, until the possibility of injury or death to those surrounding one exists. Given this, these devices need to be neutralized, and 'updating' them so that they can't be recharged seems to be a solid approach.

Looking at the bigger picture, this isn't about you. It sucks that you're out the money you invested in your device, but wasn't there a program in place to obtain a replacement (besides the abortive attempt to effect replacement with the same device)?