I don't care what the BIPM says, the appropriate measurement is mebiHumans.

Why would you do that when everyone knows vi is better?

How is Apple and different from Microsoft? Microsoft bundled IE with Windows. Apple disabled third-party syncing to iTunes, doesn't allow OSX to be installed on anything but their hardware, the iPhone is locked into iTunes, iPhone OS apps can only be written in an Apple-approved language, Google Voice was disabled/rejected, and on and on and on. Now, I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with Apple's decisions (or Microsoft's, for that matter), only that Apple is no better than Microsoft when it comes to anti-competitive behavior. You can bet that if market share between MS and Apple were reversed, there would be some pretty serious consequences for Apple, and Windows would still have IE by default without MS having to offer alternative browsers.

Personally, I have no problem paying for the services I use (and a little here and there to help those in need is ok, too). The problem is, I pay income tax. Some of that money is going to the ISPs, etc. Then I pay state/local taxes which also partially fund ISPs. Then I pay additional taxes attached to my broadband/cable/telephone bill. Then there's the broadband bill itself. Oh, and my cable/telephone/wireless bills are increased because carriers can't afford broadband on its own. So fine, I'm willing to pay extra taxes if it's going to significantly improve my broadband experience, but somewhere along the line I know I'm going to be [double | triple | quadruple | etc.] charged, and that's not right.

The problem with the Geek Squad is that Best Buy managers are often so far removed from what the Geek Squad is and how it should work that it becomes a poorly managed mess in many stores. This is the crux of the issues many people have with the Geek Squad.

The truth is that the optimization service is a good one for many people. Best Buy creates the specifics of the optimization service based on feedback from their customers and from the Geek Squad Agents who work on their computers. You must realize that for the majority of the Geek Squad's customers, a computer (tower) is a "router," Toshiba is "Toshibia," Linksys is "Linksky," Windows 7 is "Windows Veesta 7," and that's only if they know the difference between Windows and MS Office (which MANY do not). We're not talking about people with even passing computer knowledge. For these people, not having an icon for Internet Explorer or My Computer on their desktop (as is the case in many freshly-purchased machines) is akin to having a car with no steering wheel or pedals. The optimization service is designed to maximize the usability of a new computer for those customers who need it.

The optimization service takes some time (30 minutes to an hour) to complete. To save customers some time, the Geek Squad will "pre-optimize" a small percentage of their computers. In doing this, they are not violating any laws provided they leave any minimum available quantity (if stated in the weekly ad) unopened. If you attempt to purchase a computer and all they have left are pre-optimized units, they are required to sell you the computer at the normal retail price. They can not force you to pay the optimization fee. They do have the option, however, to restore the computer to factory defaults before they allow you to leave with it, and they do not have to give you an open-box discount. If employees are breaking these rules (laws) it is because of the poor management I referred to earlier, but it is certainly not company policy.

The real villains here are Microsoft and the computer manufacturers for not providing a consistent and customer-friendly experience for new computer buyers. Some of it comes from simply economics and marketing: manufacturers can reduce selling cost by including loads of trial software, not including MS Office and antivirus software, etc. The savings are then (misleadingly) passed to the customer. (I am sure, though, that Best Buy's enormous purchasing power has some say in what the manufacturers do, though.)

These stories get on my nerves. Best Buy's purpose, as with every business, is to make money. The Geek Squad makes Best Buy money by providing services to people who do not have the same skillset as many here on Slashdot do. (Disclaimer: I worked at the Geek Squad for a few years after leaving a job as a network tech to afford me the opportunity to return to school.) Now, I'm not going to defend Best Buy/Geek Squad (I left for a reason, after all), but people aren't understanding the point of what the Geek Squad does, and what the Optimization service is.

The concept of the optimization is to prepare a new computer in such a way that someone with little to no computer experience can take their new machine home and not have to worry about certain things. For example:

• Placing My Computer, My Documents, Internet Explorer and Recycle Bin on the Desktop.
• Disables the shortcuts to enable StickyKeys, FilterKeys and ToggleKeys.
• Disables automatic system restart after a system failure (BSOD).
• Download all current critical Windows updates.
• Uninstall unwanted trial software.
• Disable unnecessary startup items.

Now, these might all seem trivial to you, but believe me when I say that way too many people came to the Geek Squad to complain about those exact things not being done. The target here should not be Best Buy, but the manufacturers who do a customer-unfriendly job of preparing new PCs for sale.

Truth. Most penguin species don't live in Antarctica, but the Emperor penguin does, and they get all the love.

"'There's glory for you!'

'I don't know what you mean by "glory,"' Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't - till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'

'But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument,"' Alice objected.

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-that's all.'"

-Lewis Carroll (Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There)