MS realises they can't compete in the Smartphone market so they have devised a cunning plan to create a whole new market, the superphone market.
Sure a superphone looks and acts kinda like a smartphone but that' doesn't change the fact that a smartphone is just not a superphone (It doesn't have an MS logo on it for starters).
And when the stats come rolling in, MS will be the only player in this new market so they will naturally have 100% market share.

But it doesn't end there. MS will trademark the Superphone name, effectively meaning nobody else can enter the superphone market. They'll also patent the act of making a phone super just to bolster their position.

The week after, Samsung will trump them by releasing a Megaphone. Their marketing will be so loud it will drown out MS's and pretty soon nobody will remember the superphone.

And not just one at the front for the teacher to use. Several of them, on all walls, for the students to use.
Whatever it is they are doing on the computers they can benefit from some planning and collaboration first and whiteboards are great for facilitating this.
Don't go with smartboards either. A plain low-tech whiteboard will work much better.

Why hasn't an Occupy style movement been started over this? If it was coordinated better they could get their message out clearer with a lot of Media coverage.

How long until the rest of the world says FU USA and starts working on ways to remove their dependence on USA for the functioning of the internet?

I can see it now. MPAA gets a hold of this, attributes the decline to piracy and gets to work.

In a few weeks time we see a new law being pushed stating that any household without a TV must be a household that's involved in piracy and needs to be taxed more accordingly.

Then after the law is passed, someone points out that people with a TV can be involved in piracy too. Law is shortly amended to include households with a TV as well.

So what happens to the companies that have already entered into an agreement with MS?

Now that we know what the patents are, they must feel a bit embarrassed about this?

And if B&N win on this will those other companies be able to get out of their agreements with MS?

Or maybe it's just that racing and FPS games sell better. Todays younger generation tend to be an instant gratification one. Pressing a button and watching an enemy blow up is more fun for them than having to think.
(not all, I'm generalising obviously but this observation comes from my experience working in a school)

Indeed, but with 5 cells and a timer it becomes a little more interesting.
(Assuming your playing yourself and not writing a program to do it.)

I always like the game Mastermind as a quick game to play when I have a few spare minutes.

Every major civilisation before ours eventually fell. Maybe this will be the downfall of ours.

I'm reading this on the park bench next to my gavel.

Park Benching

I'm reading this on the park bench next to my top hat.

This is not planking

This is actually quite an interesting observation. The Metro UI, if pulled off well, could destroy all competing browsers, severely hit Google's market share and effectively cripple any other web service that MS decides to incorporate into the UI (with their own version of course). A brilliant strategy but how long until Governments start coming after them over it. I can't see Google sitting idly by and letting this happen either.

And if MS is considering this then this may well be part of their plan:
1. Announce partnership with Nokia.
2. Watch it's value plummet as a result.
3. Buy Nokia at a reduced price (saving much more than the cost of the partnership in the first place)

They already have an ex MS guy at the helm too. No doubt already re-aligning Nokia management with the MS way of doing things. If Nokia is bought it would be quite a streamlined process to integrate them.