Not the departments I would choose necessarily but this is the type of thinking I am on board with. As a states rights individual, I believe that the best way to serve our interests is to make massive cuts in the form of getting rid of Administrative service departments that are not necessary anymore.

$300 for a casual browsing computer with iOS and an extra 3", or $300 for 3 less inches and an amazon prime, hulu+, cloud storage, and netflix. The extra $300 just doesn't make sense for a pad device for me, I would rather have the services and a device I can tuck into a pocket on my laptop case. My wife is a pharmacist making 90K a year as well and we still think they are pricey. Just because you HAVE money doesn't mean you spend it on things that don't make sense. Different people have different priorities.

This is America Dammit, the land of $500 dollar purses to carry food stamps.

I have even money that says I am still using my fire in a decade (as long as it is still working).

Ha I make 80K a year and I think this fits perfectly into my budget. iPad for $500+ for a casual browsing computer...while cool I cant bring myself to do it.

Consider that by buying WebOS they now have claim to the landslide of Touchpads that just sold AND all the positive marketing. Negotiate in a deal for upgrading the software for them, and you have one hell of an advertizing base...instantly. Not to mention owning all the patents as well.

Amen, I have photos from 1998 and I have documents from before that. ATA has been a standard for what...20 years now? However, have people not heard of cloud hosting services? I have been backing up all my media to Mozy for years....and when they go away I will back it up to somewhere else...it is BACKUP for cryin out loud.

The big new market is the HTPC. No PC maker out there is hitting this market currently. I think newegg needs to cater to this market more. Yes they have HTPC shells but the selection is no better than anywhere else. yet, the public is obsessed with DVR and streaming. The do it yourself market is here now. Most of us gamers who used to build our own PCs have fallen in love with the gaming laptop. We are more than happy to give up Frames per second in order to game anywhere we want.

CS isn't programming, CS is Computer Science or more to the point Computational Analysis. A true computer scientist looks more like an engineer than a programmer. We create languages (had to do that in scheme in college), we use building blocks to create computational systems. I don't care if those building blocks are silicon and gold or if they are prebuilt routers and servers. I only care about the flow of information and the output. Screw all the bitchy line drawing you all do. I will say that the Network Architect is more a computer scientist than the .Net dev making share point portals any day.

Good lord, not to be a flamer, but this really pisses me off. maintenance is just ONE area of IT. Anyone who has done Enterprise support rather than just Mom and Pop IT knows this. It is an international standard. People need to look into ITIL, or MOF or COBIT. Just like coding, there is a Plan, Build, Run cycle...each is interesting in it's own right.

Flying planes is more fun than building them :)

Ummm, last I checked my state had the lowest unemployment in the nation during the recession, as well as being one of the happiest places to live due to our health rates and low debt to income ratios.

So while we here in Nebraska appreciate the concern, get your ducks in a row and remember who has been stable through the mess the rest of you created. In the meantime, our economy will continue to kick ass despite the best efforts of the coasts.

References:

Blog and newsweek:

http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/blog/andie531/nebraska-bucks-recession

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/18/why-the-midwest-fared-best-in-the-recession.html

Happiness:

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/moneyinvesting/news/happiness-index-nebraska-nabs-top-spot

Silicon Valley

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/technology/17iht-valley.4.20255686.html Silicon Valley Foreclosure rate

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2011/02/10/calif-posts-nations-3rd-highest.html

Im gonna call you out on that. There have been some amazing services out there.Apple is hardly the best, Amazon is one, they have probably done the most, they will publish and push any album for practically free. Several other services as well. All apple has ever done for indie artists was create the world's most accepted music player and allow yet another avenue to sell. Today, Facebook and youtube do the most for independent musicians.

Dont get me wrong I love apple products, but I really hate iTunes in it's current format, although iCloud is looking to change everything I hate about iTunes, so I am very excited.

1. Create an innovative online music service that increases sales for everyone.

2. Get sued into oblivion by Record Labels.

3. Create an non-innovative online music service that increases sales for 1 company.

4. ???

5. Get full support of Record Labels

6. Profit!

One could only help to have a little baby Dexter :)