if he writes a long-ass article about his meddling in the janitorial hiring within his company based on personal mop preferences, yes.

Yes, there are different types and categories. I fall into the same category as you, but being able to play without looking at the fretboard leaves you more flexible for all situations. It is not necessary but ideal and as such teachers should promote this rather than assume what road their student will take. The last band I was in was a trio, and the lead singer/guitarist was amazing at hardly ever having to look at the fretboard, playing all guitar parts because I was on bass and his brother was on drums. It was a definite advantage.

I'm a musician but my sons aren't (yet). The 7yo wants to learn guitar, but it's difficult for a beginner. Done well, something like this could get him excited about practicing every day. Worth looking into. I hope they have plenty of beginner material.

Because, ideally, you should be looking at sheet music (or have the capacity to do so). I expect less dependence on watching the fretboard translates to more comfort singing into a microphone while playing as well. As someone who looks at the fretboard as needed you might be surprised at the number of people who develop excellent technical skill with an instrument but have trouble memorizing music scores. My wife is like that. She can play piano far better than I, but if there's no sheet music around you'd never know it. I've memorized what I play because I cannot sight read (an annoying limitation I'll never find time to fix). With sheet music she puts me to shame.

...or you could end up like the uncountable number of very awful guitar players or people who just plain gave up.

You ever tried keeping a $50 guitar in tune during even a modest practice session? If you're just starting out you won't even know how badly you've fallen out of tune. The cost isn't your primary point, but I suggest people steer clear of el cheapo at Toys R Us, or even Guitar Center.

Sure, you don't need a game to do this, but anything that keeps my 8yo son excited about practice is worth looking into.

Like when they pushed the US gov't so hard to increase H-1B work visas because there "isn't enough" homegrown talent, then laid off a large number of developers shortly thereafter?

Yes, the people crowing about the disaster while citing Pearl Harbor are clueless idiots, but with so many Americans using Facebook it's an unremarkable number. Thanks for posting this on every Japan thread with a judgement leveled at the US as a whole based on this insignificant sample. I'm sure the general public in your nation are curing cancer, sharing their own translations of Beowulf, and achieving other matchless deeds on Facebook.

This is true, poor money must settle for being funneled thru Walmart and spent on the Three Gorges Dam and whatnot.

you do realise that making interest from "savings/investments" is possible because that money is used to conduct economic activity such as hiring people to produce goods and services, right?

More like credit to burn, and that's no reason to assume a forced purchase/course fee is acceptable or appropriate. Also, GP's earlier point that people already pay for many things they don't want doesn't make clear why people should be forced to pay for yet another thing they don't necessarily want. A lot of people still prefer the good old fashioned tactile book. Why isn't an optional program appropriate?

Israel hasn't violated the NPT because they never signed it.

One could also say a power imbalance is what allowed Israel to survive the 20th century.

And "free" online or radio content could never be a viable business model, right?

The illiterate peasant bit can be ignored as trolling. I don't think he really means to change the topic to whether the (apparently inferior) illiterate peasant folk could possibly have something to offer humanity, or that he believes an all-powerful God could not instantiate an illiterate peasant presence.

I am not a teacher but I have a couple kids in elementary school and get to see the instantiation of mediocrity when some parents sit back and allow their kids to become someone else's problem. It's clear that reproduction is not just physical, but is also behavioral. Big douchebags unleash little douchebags unto our society, in some cases with barely disguised relish. And it's not so rare that these same people expect to bring their little psychopathic bastards to public school to have an Anne Sullivan/Helen Keller moment at the water pump with nary an effort on their own part. Sure, the teacher made some idiotic judgements, but I'd applaud the interviewers if they asked the indignant parents whether any of the teacher's claims might be true and, if so, what should be done about it.