I'm really, really tired of that old saw. Throwing out collective goods as a sign we support socialism is a gross misunderstanding of economics. Health care need not fall into the realm of the collective goods you describe. Collective goods are those goods individuals cannot acquire by themselves. Individuals can and should make decisions regarding their health care. Individuals choose to live in a society that provides the types of collective goods they cannot acquire on their own, such as a postal service, fire and police, etc. Your tired examples are in no way related to socialism or health care.

As to space, given that there isn't yet a commercially viable reason to send people to the moon the government does have the power (and responsibility) to fund research under its mandate to promote the arts and sciences.

Developing for webOS is perhaps even better for developers. Personally, I hate Java. I think I'd rather go through the pain of learning Objective C. I wasn't a big fan of JavaScript, either, until I started working with it for webOS apps. Now, with the PDK (plugin development kit) coming out, developers can write in C/C++ and access SDL for applications that need that extra oompf. The underlying Linux OS is readily accessible, moreso than it is on Android, I've been given to understand. There's a tremendous homebrew community out there creating patches, themes and more. Check out http://webos-internals.org/ if interested in seeing that side. And, with Palm-blessed sideloading of apps, developers can make their own way.

Self Aware Games has three different real-time multiplayer card games that work on webOS and iPhone devices as well as Facebook. They've got a really nice interface and have worked to maintain the social aspects of card games. They're fun and well done, too. Word Ace is a combo of Scrabble and Texas Hold 'Em. Card Ace is Texas Hold 'Em. I'll let you guess what Card Ace: Blackjack is about.

Interestingly, the games are all free, though I recommend picking up one of their poker chip packs to help support them.

Tethering on webOS is also very simple. In Europe, it's enabled by default and on Verizon you have the built-in hotspot app. On Sprint, though, you'll need one of the homebrew solutions.

This isn't really too surprising. When they purchased Symbol Technologies they were making a play for the wireless networking IP. I really didn't think they were very interested in holding on to the bar code scanning end of that business. Symbol is a big player in my industry so I'm very interested to see how those technologies get split up. I suppose we'll be getting much better details soon (or maybe I could have RTFA).

What a tired and nonsensical response. Those are examples of club goods that we as a society agree to contribute towards. It has nothing to do with 'entertainment', with spending more than you can afford nor with 'stealing' or taking goods/services.

Sprint still has well-priced plans, being the cheapest of the AT&T, Verizon, Sprint triumvirate. Given that, AT&T and Verizon just dropped their prices. I'd go with a Palm Pre on Sprint and just homebrew a tethering app. If you want another option, Verizon will have Palm Pre Plus which includes built-in MiFi hotspot software (plan of undisclosed price still, I think) for up to five devices. With Verizon's new prices and possibly a buy-one-get-a-Pixi-Plus-Free, the MiFi and their coverage that's a pretty tough combo to beat. Again, it's all subjective.

I forgot to link to the Palm CES presentation: http://www.youtube.com/palm

If you read closer, the contest is for apps created with the traditional SDK. Apps created with the PDK (native apps) are not eligible for the contest.

I find the UI of webOS devices to be very well thought out and elegant. I also have an HTC Hero and while it does have some strong points there are many areas where the geeky underside of Android is visible. The look and feel is very different. Compare how webOS uses the notification area for displaying information without obscuring the app you're using. Compare how multitasking works -- the card metaphor works extremely well in practice. The gesture area is also a nice way to interact with the device.

The other big difference to me is how Palm has embraced the homebrew and open source community, going so far as to give a 'shout out' to the homebrew community during their CES talk. The N900 is really about the only other device that is as open as webOS devices. With Preware[1] you can install Optware packages, custom services, themes, apps, patches to the in-built apps, and more. When the homebrew community released native apps in advance of CES, some Palm employees were even retweeting the success. They're very involved in the community. Things may be the same on other platforms but I haven't seen it.

[1] Preware is an on-device app for installing homebrew (and soon, thanks to Palm's open feed) and other apps.

I just watched the CES presentation and it was very good. Lots of excellent stuff coming from Palm. The 3D games look great and I've already downloaded one of them. A little sad the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are Verizon exclusives but I wasn't going to replace my Pre in any case. The proof will be in what Verizon does for marketing the Pre and Pixi. If they do half as well pushing it as they did the Droid it will be great, particularly since the Pre and Pixi are much more consumer friendly devices than any of the Android devices, in my opinion.

The PDK, allowing for native apps, really removes that last barrier that devs were complaining about, so I should hope we'll be seeing a lot more active development for the platform. Still, there are a tremendous number of apps that can be developed with the existing SDK. I don't think people have really begun tapping the Canvas element. The 3D games look great but they're going to be tough on the battery.

I should have a review of CES up on Pre 101 tonight, so check back if you want the executive summary of the CES announcement.

I was in the same boat myself. I was hesitant to jump aboard with the Pre. My Treo 755p dying was the impetus. I'm so glad I did. Pop over to PreCentral and see what people are talking about, check the enthusiasm of the community. There are warts, but with 8 software updates since June, Palm is knocking them out quickly. Flash should be available shortly. I plan to write my Palm predictions for 2010 soon.

If you're looking for a hacker friendly phone then you really can't beat the Palm Pre. Linux OS underlies it. Very strong homebrew community that works -with- Palm. The whole phone is open for tinkering. Shortly, it should be supported on Verizon and the GSM version should be available in the states later this year (of course, you could import a QWERTZ phone from Germany now, but that seems like a lot of effort to me). Recently, the homebrew community ported Doom to the phone, it works with the new OpenGL drivers included in the webOS 1.3.5 update. Palm really gets open source. Of course, I might be biased, I do run the Pre 101 Web site in my spare time, but I don't think I've exaggerated anything.

Hopefully Palm will get this one right as their App Catalog evolves. Palm is trying to walk a fine line by supporting both self-signed apps outside the App Catalog and official, reviewed apps inside the catalog. It will be interesting to see if the developers begin looking at webOS as a viable distribution platform. I think the benefit is that, like the iPhone, webOS customers (Pre & Pixi) will be willing to pay for apps. The downside, of course, is that the self-signed apps will have to develop their own payment platform. The WebOS Internals folks have done a fantastic job of developing a feed system for homebrew applications and patches for webOS. Ill have an interview with Rod Whitby, founder of WebOS Internals on my blog later this weekend: http://pre101.com/

Roy