...but there's something to be said for iOS being a "closed" platform with a (mostly) strict approval process. There's a lot of controversy about apps getting blocked from the iTunes App Store, but so far there haven't been any significant outbreaks of malware/trojans like the Android platform has had. Caveat: I actively develop for both platforms, so I have no "stake" in either side. Just making a point about the open vs. closed issue in related to PII leakage risks. Let the flaming begin!

It will also make the walls more delicious!

I mean, it's from Japan, right? It's gotta turn into a robot, or some kind of odd anime device that does indescribably naughty thing to girls in sailor uniforms.

"Hack the planet!" lol!

Every time they showed a screen in Hackers I cringed. Also, that "RISC is good" comment from the lead actor made my skin crawl.

I'm shocked that they aren't just photoshoping pictures of a guy in an American or Russian space suit strapped to the side of a photoshoped rocket.

I get the distinct impression that when Rushkoff said "fork the internet" he really meant the entire thing, including backbone and infrastructure. I'm not saying you're wrong - you're completely right in what you're saying technologically. I'm just saying that if we're going to take Rushkoff literally, we'd have to start from scratch.

I'd also say it's worth taking note that if we want to ensure that the internet doesn't become the mobile phone provider that it so wants to be (in relation to the business models of Comcast/Verizon/Cox/et al) that perhaps starting fresh with new backbone hardware and protocols - that try to prevent what is threatening net neutrality - would be a boon for making things better in the future.

Ad hominem ignored, when I said infrastructure I meant everything. Pipes, computers, nodes, the whole thing. ARPA didn't have to deal with millions and millions of devices. It had hundreds, if even that. Technology was a lot less refined then. We learned great lessons from it and a lot of what created it was put directly into what the internet is today.

You're comparing a bag of rocks to the Burj Dubai.

I agree with the idea, in theory, but it's not like we can just up and start a "new internet" from scratch easily. The infrastructure would be a massive undertaking... decisions about whether to reuse old protocols or create new ones would have to be decided... hardware support would need to be dealt with... And at some point, because it's bound to happen, some government(s) are going to want to step in and ruin the work all over again. I'm hopeful about the future of net neutrality by a simple line from Serenity: "You can't stop the signal, Mal."

I can imagine the board meeting where the idea was thrown out: Corp Douche 1: "They're going to be angry when they learn about the kind of things we've done. They're probably going to write letters and e-mails and setup 'BoASucks.com'." Corp Douche 2: "Well, we can ignore the mail. But websites? Oh my... the web! I hear there's a lot of people there and they say mean things about us! We can't let them do that!" Corp Douche 3: "We can cut them off at the knees! Let's buy up all the 'sucks' and 'blows' website names before they get to them! Public relations disaster averted!" *All of the Corp Douches clap*

Perhaps there's a subspecies of Klingon that is Hobbit-like. Short, but honorable. They even have a reality show, "Big Qo'noS, Little Klingons".

taH pagh taHbe'. DaH mu'tlheghvam vIqelnIS. quv'a', yabDaq San vaQ cha, pu' je SIQDI'? pagh, Seng bIQ'a'Hey SuvmeH nuHmey SuqDI', 'ej, Suvmo', rInmoHDI'? Hegh. Qong --- Qong neH --- 'ej QongDI', tIq 'oy', wa'SanID Daw''e' je cho'nISbogh porghDaj rInmoHlaH net Har.

As a web designer, I can understand how someone who doesn't use CSS daily or at a high level can feel like CSS is a complete boggle to start with, but how is this guy still relevant?