So sure, Apple is the gatekeeper between the software world and their desktop devices. The App Store is that gate.

My copy of Steam disagrees. The App Store is just another delivery method for software.

You might as well try to make the same complaint about Ubuntu's Package Manager... Is it the dominant method for installing software on a Ubuntu machine? Yes. Is it guarded jealously by Ubuntu managers intent on preventing conflict, but ultimately preventing me from installing the latest and greatest? Yup. Is it the ONLY method? God no.

The company bought the rights to the code, and has been making internal contributions to it for years. They (claim to have) pruned out any external contributions, so they become 100% the "original author". Copyright is not perpetual. Disney may keep getting it extended, but it does expire eventually. 10 years is barely what even the original copyright was good for.

If there's no expiry date in the contract you agree to, then as long as you continue to use the service (the gpl'd code), then you are continuously agreeing to abide by the terms of the contract. There's no abandonment clause.

I thought the exact same thing.

By "hoops", I'm assuming the OP means "transferring your physical media to networked storage".

And you'll have to do that no matter what solution you use. The only difference is in what "hoops" you have to jump through. Some only need the DVD to be ripped. Others want it in divx or h.264 format.

I started out ripping all my movies to h.264, so I have very few "hoops" to jump through, and my files play on almost all devices out there, including ATV.

Or they put minimal effort into the "security" because they know it's "good enough" to keep the layman locked down, and they don't worry too much about the 1% of us who hack their stuff, because they know they can't really stop us anyway and it's not worth the effort.

They're hoping you're willing to overlook the smaller screen in return for front/back facing cameras and a higher resolution screen. Which, if rumours are to be believed, means they will be overshadowed when the iPad Mk II comes out.

Interesting, I wonder if that kind of "hardwired" negotiation will make it into the next USB spec.

I thought the same thing. If they're going to compare Android to anything, then they need to also compare it to sales involving Windows Mobile.

"Clever" compared to simply changing the shape. Relatively speaking of course. And really, the only law that's a problem here is not the lack of "it's illegal to design a new connector", which is asinine in itself, is the law preventing 3rd party manufacturers from making compatible connectors. THAT law is the TRWTF.

than any company that makes products with custom dongles to interface/charge their batteries? All I see is that Apple found a way slightly more clever than just making a unique connector shape...