Why in the FUCK should VISITORS being paying for local services? Isnt the fire dept funded through property taxes? Fuck you and people like you who think its wise to tax the shit out of visitors.

Did it ever occur to you that these taxes and fees are straight up local robbery?

I havent stopped taking photographs, but i only share my truly exceptional ones. Most often this is done with a 'real' camera.

You are being purposefully obtuse. Not everyone had access to that kind of ongoing capital. A digital camera is a VERY different proposition than film. It is essentially a camera with unlimited film after the initial capital outlay. I know i waited until digital was ready before getting into photography because of this. All of the stuff you listed needs heavy infrastructure, time, deliveries, chemicals etc. With digital all you need is the camera, and a laptop to store them. 10-15 years ago was 1999-2003. I had taken well over 10,000 unique digital pictures by 2003 at a fraction of the cost of film.

ITs called leveling or stepping or some shit like that. Its to coax you to step up to the next level at an increased profit margin.

What part of 'i dont want it associated with my account in any way do you not understand?'. If I want the U2 album i will get it. Dont add it top my account. (this isnt unique to apple btw, Steam adds things to the library from time to time).

I bought A full suite of Apple gear at the beginning of the ipad 2 era (mac mini, ipad 2, iphone 4s) to properly evaluate their ecosystem ( as part of my job). I am not going ot give up my apple gear that I have in place, but im not going to buy any more either. I use mostly my NAS and its attendant apps over VPN for all my media needs. Im not outraged, im disappointed that Apple would be so incredibly blind that this would be an issue. It jsut reinforces my decision to move over to devices and ecosystems i have much more direct control over.

No its not overblown. The issue at hand is that Apple thinks it can alter people's libraries at a whim. I dont WANT U2 in my collection at all. I have nothing against them, but i hate the fact that it was pushed into my face and into my library. I want my library to be composed of material I choose, not apple.

If I came over and starting just randomly putting books into your bookshelves that publishers paid me to do without asking you, wouldnt you rightfully be a bit upset about it?

The most troubling part here is that Apple thinks it can inject stuff into my curated libraries without asking. This is the end result of blending the player and the store.

Same reason Blizzard never put servers there. The Australian Telcos have the continent by the balls, no one wants to do business there.

NO its not. Offline use will ALWAYS be important. Unless you get ISPs to offer 5 sigma SLAs to home consumers as a standard part of service, offline modes will remain important.

There is a computing principle called GIGO, Garbage In, Garbage Out. It applies to humans as well. What you put in your head shapes who you are. I carefully choose what goes into my head.

Some people take curating their libraries much more seriously than you do. I choose what goes into my media libraries, not Apple.

Hasnt happened to me, but yes i would bitch about that too. Dont put stuff in MY library that i didnt ask for. This is a MAJOR Information Age problem that needs to be stopped now. Offer it to me for free, just dont insert it into my library without my permission.

It should have never been added to my personal library in the first place. THAT is the issue, something being placed into my library that i did not ask for. Its a huge 'fuck you' to the users.