jesus christ...how did this end up a point of slashdot discussion? The OP, literally made up the reasoning "because it would have democrat in it" out of thin air, then 3/4 of the commentators here ran with it without bothering to RTFA. The fact that the US is NOT a democracy is obviously very poorly taught in schools, illustrated by the number of people here who are surprised by the fact.

The "it must be utopia" jab is further illustration of the political naivete of the OP. Does he really, really think governments should self-paralyze into inaction until 2 or 3 core issues are 100% resolved?

These are two different, and UNRELATED issues.

Accidental "reply all" is just that, an accident. Muscle memory, inattention, etc...it's going to happen for a variety of reasons. It could be handled as simply as a reply all having an extra "are you sure" dialog that includes a count of how many people will be receiving it.

reply all mailstorm is completely different...that is a result of INTENTIONAL behavior. people are INTENDING to reply to all, usually to show their idiocy by saying "stop replying to all". No amount of "are you sure" or other cute crap is going to stop people from intentionally, but inappropriately replying to all.

Its' too little too late. Don't even try to compete on specs, or other bullshit...compete on price and targeted use. Get a $100 capacitive touch screen tablet that is little more than a portable web browser...watch how many you sell. I'll take 3 today. Hell, I'll sell my ipad and buy however many I can with the proceeds.

Why would you assume that? And even were it the case, why an ipad? it's far from the most convenient ebook reader, and a terrible note-taker, so a laptop would still be superior.

This is marketing, trying to get interest in the school generated. It's been done many times before, "giving away" macbooks, ipods, etc to new students. Apple heavily subsidizes educational purchases, so it's just usually apple products.

Jesus...what a dick. Some authors seem to be able to work on multiple projects at the same time, some can't. I get it. Martin needs to figure out that he's in the SECOND category and deal with it. It's not like we're saying "dont' take a leak", we're saying "stop working on other shit IF it means you can't finish current projects". It's not rocket science. This work ethic would get someone fired but quick in any other industry...and no apologies needed.

Really? I'd love to have that conversation with him. Maybe suggest he put THAT right on the cover so his readers know what to expect from him. Think he's got the balls to tell people BEFORE he's got their money that he'll finish the story if and when he feels like it?

HAH, yes! Me too. The funny thing, is I bought "wounded land" on paperback, so it had already been out a while, and I swear I remember waiting FOREVER for "one tree" and then "white gold wielder" to finish the series. I just looked at the wikipedia and it was actually only 2 years between the first two books, then one for the last one. That's nothing these days.

The beauty of 3D is that the Z axis works both ways. They could take Jar Jar and sink him into the BACKGROUND until he's gone.

Yes. He's going to be well into his 70's before he's done, and he weighs like 400lbs.

Agreed. If you can't see a big "F-U" from Martin between the lines, you aren't paying very close attention. 100% due to Martin and Robert Jordan, I will never, EVER pick up and start reading another book series that isn't completed the day I buy the first one. Screw you guys, screw you all.

There's still two books to go, and Martin is 62 years old. Since it was SEVEN years between "a feast for crows" and "a dance with dragons", he would be 76 at this rate before he finishes. That's beyond the average american lifespan, so yes...a "jordan" is a very real possibility.

The latter. And it's supposed to be offensive. Jordan drug out the Wheel of Time series for over 20 years...it wasn't just possible he was going to die before finishing it, it was a statistical certainty. And he didn't give a rats ass. He worked on other projects, games, tv series...let WOT languish with 3-4 years between books, etc. So yes it's offensive, and he deserved it.

I'll make it easy for you. Apple thinks 16GB of additional flash storage is worth $100. NewEgg thinks it's worth $20.

Pretending you don't know the usefulness of removable media betrays your bias.

that being said, I never said the Ipad wasn't a useful device, I use mine all the time. My point was that the ipad 2 is NOT a revolutinary upgrade, did NOT address any of the shortcomings of the original, and is not a compelling upgrade. It's an extremely minor tech refresh, nothing to get all moist about...unless you're an apple fanboi in the media desperate to get your gush time.

Really??? My reaction was just the opposite...the iPad 2 brought almost nothing new to the table of any note.

Cameras? Specifically cameras of such low resolution as to be deliberately avoided mentioning specifics on. what would I use them for? the video conferencing that I'm not going to do?

Thinner? wow...I was so wishing I could get 2/10th of an inch of my life back

faster processor? ok, that's good I guess...but I haven't had anything I've wished the CPU was faster for.

2 ounces lighter? see above "thinner" reference. Make it "light" and I'll be happy, lighter is just a way of saying "this brick is lighter than that brick"

still no flash, still no SD card slot, still no wireless sync...I don't see how this qualifies as "makes up for ALL the things lacking in the original ipad". I like my ipad, and I use it every day...but this is an extremely minor update to the platform. It's hard to imagine any objective observer getting excited about the ipad 2 over the original.