Android developers don't care about desktop Linux and are willing to fork anything that gets in their way. They've done it before.

Android will end up with 3D that works fine; it will just be based on different APIs than desktop Linux.

Oh, you want Optimus documentation? Here, have some documentation! ... for Tegra ... 2D.

MIPS is still big in networking; see Cavium and Raza/NetLogic/Broadcom.

For some reason I looked at the MIPS Web site the other day and they have no 64-bit cores. It looks like they've completely abandoned 64-bit.

You (and Geekbench) may not be taking turbo mode into account. Quad-cores generally turbo to the same frequency as duals when you're only using one core.

IIRC Thumper had 48 drives in 4U but Facebook's new hinged storage server has 15 drives per U, so it's even denser.

Google doesn't do things the cheapest way because they're thinking long-term. They want to have everything in house. They may (accidentally, I'm sure) destroy some of the companies you mentioned, so Google doesn't want to be their customer when that day comes. Google also thinks (rightly or wrongly) that at scale they can always design something cheaper than anyone else.

I think the $30 spike was more likely caused by an influx of noobs who found out that their GPU could print money.

Haven't people been reflowing PS3s and Xboxen in their kitchen ovens? Or does that only work for re-reflowing?

The next generation Cray (XE7?) will attach to the processor via PCIe, so they can use Intel or AMD. They're definitely not going to use IB when their Gemini interconnect is better.

They'll probably make a Windows 8 version (locked) and an Android version (also locked) of each tablet. The demand for anything else is too small to bother with. People who want regular Linux will have to jailbreak.

You might enjoy this proposal: http://www.jordanpollack.com/softwaremarket/

Such a market would annoy customers because it uses DRM and it would annoy sellers because they would make less money.

Microsoft and Cisco do it. That used router you bought? Its firmware was fully licensed, but since it's non-transferable you have to buy it all over again. (And since the router is a brick without firmware, they have you over a barrel on pricing.) I always thought it was unfair that such practices are allowed when they only hurt businesses even though people would scream were they applied to consumer goods.

I agree. But given that I have already agreed to DRM in many cases (e.g. Steam), allowing resale/lending would at least give me some benefits to offset the costs of DRM.

You just pretty much described the "UltraViolet" locker service; unfortunately the implementation is buggy and laden with DRM.