*cough* sure*cough*
Less threats, sure. But far from completely secure.

Americans, huhu, you get it? You aint the world.
Android vs iOS seems neat.
Symbian only has 2% in the US but 40+% worldwide, so you may notice that this little proxy battle isnt concerning all to many people outside the US.
But well, Intel is american as well, so you might eventually get decent linux smartphones in the long run.

Sorry, but the US seems to be applying for third world nation status in mobile tech.

Time to burn some karma i guess.

You know, not even half a year ago i read many comments from people claiming that traveling downwind faster than the wind was impossible using just the wind. Even from a lot of people with physics or engineering knowledge.

The idea that we have good understanding of the laws of the universe is laughable, even though many people believe it. Same mistake every generation has made.

There are many possible ways to break causality, ranging from additional dimensions to bending space time. Getting from A to B a lot faster than light is very well possible without moving faster than light.

Lots of frameworks are corsets. Looks nice, but only hinders when you want to get the job done.

Just one thing.
How the fuck do you expect to learn something about the CPU if it's hidden beneath 20 abstraction layers?
DOS sure had its advantages.

Ever looked at the sources?
Its mainly the Jake2 code. And switching from Java to HTML5 caused like what? A 90% performance drop?

why dogs lick their genitals? Because they can.

Ok, i dare you to name one such piece of software.
Im sure you wont get any such software running, with all the library changes (or are you talking about "hello world"?)

Have everything nearby as well.
And even if its further away its usually just a good excuse to get drunk anyways, so im better off taking a cab.

Originally, like 7-10 years ago,
a smart phone was considered a phone with a fully functional operating system that could be accessed a developer.
If the SDK provides access to (parts of) the file-system, screen and network its a smartphone.
Nowadays the term "smartphone" is just as meaningless as e.g. "next gen console".

The market saturation for mobile phones (in general, not smartphones) is higher than 100% in most developed countries.
Partly due to the fact of having a phone for business and one for private uses, partly due to the fact that quite a few people have more than one phone (getting a new phone every 2 years on contract doesnt destroy the old one).

Right, its a good example.
And the reason there is a lot more software for the PC ... is?

Wrong.
And right.
Depends on the perspective.
From the perspective of the hardware maker you are right.
From the perspective of the software developer you are wrong, how many _compatible_ devices is the big question.

Which brings me to a really weird question...
Why do so many people develop for the iPhone?
Even desktop linux has a higher installed base than the iPhone..

Talking into account the prices here are always including VAT theres practicly no difference between the dollar prices and the euro prices.

Well, i also made the mistake of getting one of those cheap laptops once.
So they do survive the guarantee period now and then.

Of course i will have to replace the CRT sometime.
If i had to bet, though, it will still outlast that 360$ laptop you mentioned.

As i already said, the big screen is hooked up to my box anyway.

Weird. I always seem to be able to build them some 10-20% cheaper.
Though i usually invest a bit more and get a good mobo, case and power unit.
Not having the box fail is worth more than waiting for a replacement.

You still cant compare it.
Do you need a new monitor *EVERY* time you buy a notebook? Of course.
Do you need a new monitor every 2-3 years for a PC? No.
So lets rather go with your original 479€ figure for a cheap laptop.
At that price i can built a superior desktop INCLUDING monitor and keyboard/mouse.
After 2-3 years i can upgrade, at a far lower cost.
If i spent the same i will then have a dual monitor setup and have *highly* superior box.

As for:

The problem is not replacing stuff (not for me at least).
The problem is getting spare parts. And in my experience the displays happen to need replacing a lot more often than stand alone tfts. (But then again, you dont usually carry a monitor around).
Personaly i recommend desktops unless the mobility is required.