Except that they do not own and control the entire ecosystem.

I never said that they don't, but that they should be required to. The reason they do not is because they feel it promotes the used market and that people will not buy new versions if they can keep playing their old games. Of course that is B.S. and what it does do is keep older less efficient consoles in operation or a waste of the user throwing everything away since it usually has little value. The Wii is probably the standout in this area.

It is ridiculous that they are not and the waste involved in the industry. It is nice that most consoles live a 5-7 year lifespan but there is very little reason that they could not be designed for some modularity and allow for them to be upgraded. Basically at this point it is a MB/CPU and GPU upgrade. I'd be OK if it was even the same price as a new system just to reduce the ewaste. Also, it is ridiculous that consoles are not required to offer backwards compatibility at least through emulation. I used to work in the gaming industry and it is all such a waste and most for no reason at all aside from greed.

Yes. We believe in a fairy tale that statistically will effect a small percentage of us instead of a logical and pragmatic system that applies to each and every one of us 100% and for our entire life. Brilliant! Some might call it optimism, I'd call it idiocy. Although, it doesn't surprise me since the vast majority also believe an invisible man has direct power over everything from wars to football games... and is always on "their" side.

I love how people will still argue this point. America deserves to suffer unnecessarily because they are so afraid of someone else getting something "for free" that they are completely blind to the fact that they also could and should be receiving the same for how much they currently pay (actually less when taxes and average healthcare costs are factored in). Universal healthcare in the US will never happen and if it does it will be ruined by lobbyists and big pharmacy/healthcare which will ensure it is a failure and then everyone will scream about how they were right and it doesn't work. Mindless.

And if you explain that these system cost *less* than what we currently spend as a country on healthcare everyone ignores it and continues ranting on about entitlement and welfare and other bullshit divisive issues ingrained in their feeble minds.

Who plays these? I can understand aviation buffs and maybe even people that are pursuing a license but I have never understood it aside from that. I've played all manner of them since the old days of CGA monitors and while the graphics have gotten better it still is like mediocre masturbation at best. Taking off and landing are fun but the 1:1 realtime flight in between is kinda silly to me.

Correct, but with the kernel there is a base foundation which is controlled and designed with a vision and oversight. Linux needs to be more than the kernel. The kernel and a core set of utils/apps needs to be the foundation. From there people can still strip it all the way back to the kernel and make whatever niche project they want or load it up with the kitchen sink and go that way too. Without that same care and approach on a stable foundation we will just keep running on this treadmill forever even though cool things will pop up from time to time along the way.

I interviewed with Google once and this was what I came away with as well, great minds and talent but all geared towards the technology and engineering and almost no one on the human and design and interaction side. I have always been the semi-rare techie that has a strong background in technology as well as art and design. They obviously wanted that but in the interviews it was clear they had no idea how to utilize it or to interview about it. That coupled with an offered salary *less* than most fast food jobs made me turn it down. They spun that as the "prestige" of being able to say you work for Google as well as the perks/benefits... I chose to continue to make 3-4x that elsewhere even without the "prestige."

Google has some great ideas but they just don't know how to make them understandable and usable to the average Joe. Wave, Buzz, Plus, etc. I don't think they ever will get it either.

Well those are a bunch of stats... however, it still points out the same core problem. The desktop, which is the focus of this article. OSX is not just NeXTSTEP. OSX has been around for less time than Linux and has made far more strides in actual usability and design. Linux is incredibly successful, I never said it wasn't. Linux is not a success on the desktop and never will be without a solid foundation and vision. The kernel is and has been handled this way, I never understand why people fight it elsewhere when it makes nothing but perfect sense.

I've been using and contributing to OSS/Linux for over 20 years, do you think I don't get this? The problem is that while there is indeed a place for all kinds of niches that is not what actually happens, and the way it does happen is not efficient nor design minded. What I have been a proponent of since the beginning is a *foundation* which is the kernel AND a base set of the most common utilities and apps but no more. These would all be just ONE application/util per function. They would be the most mature and well designed. This is the base Linux and a solid foundation to then let be taken in any direction desired for any and every niche and project. That core functionality and base though would give everyone as well as outside publishers something stable to target. It would also draw some great talent to those core projects because everyone would want to be a part of the action. This is how the kernel has been handled for those same 20-odd years and it would be a damn disaster if not for a board with a vision and this kind of approach. Why everyone thinks it only works for the kernel and nothing else mystifies me. Sure individual projects can also be run this way, but again you lose the cohesion. I get that it is a polarizing topic and that you and others may not agree, but I have watched this go on and on with no actual progress for longer than many Linux users have been alive.

Well, I sure as hell would hope that after 2.3+ million years Linux would finally have some great design. I guess that makes my 21+ years waiting seem minor in comparison.

My biggest problem is the complete lack of actual class and design and refinement with most open source projects. They are all done by techie, mostly youngish males, without any sense of design or art. I mean, a pizza cutter? Really? Seriously, this is the kind of thing that has bugged me since the early 90s with Linux and it just never gets better. With a unified vision and goal look at where OSX was able to come in relatively short order while Linux still flounders around creating 200 desktop environments instead of one or two good ones. This is where the bazaar and the cathedral concept fails, sometimes chaos really does just fall short.

Nope. I guarantee that you cannot pass a reaction time test anywhere near the without the phone/distraction time. I have actually run this experiment for a university study. They even hand-picked people with incredibly fast reaction times as well as so-called exceptional multi-taskers, none were even close. Multi-tasking is a lie, it is just distraction. Some people can switch from task to task better than others but we are still essentially single-threaded aside from the most basic functions.

Anyone that can pass a safe driver exam as well as a reaction time test *while* texting or talking on a cell phone should get an exemption. Exactly ZERO people would have exemptions.