To have a window in my office **dreams of a better world with office windows and non-smelly co-workers**

I don't deny major dealers would be against such a move but the natural evolution of a consumer driven market wears down even the most stubborn capitalist ideology. Car manufacturers adapted seatbelts and air bags after they had their day of kicking and screaming that it would force consumers away. Mega-industries will never change a financially beneficial situation unless forced to. The banking sector continued fine after ATM's took the place of bank clerks dispensing cash to customers.

Apologies! I probably didn't convey my point properly. I'm not meaning paint colour, air conditioning or the size of alloy wheels you want. I'm talking about choosing your car's engine, chassis, the kind of gear stick you want (for us UK residents of course ;P). I wasn't complaining about the current state of car customisation, I just wait for the day complete customisation of car's components is similar to that of a PC.

I agree with many of the points made in the article. The one point that got my attention (and then got me thinking) was "These days, it takes $1 billion or more to design, engineer, test, certify, and launch a brand-new vehicle. And that takes roughly five years." My point is that I am eagerly looking forward to the time I can buy a car online with a build specification similar to the options I am offered when I visit Dell's or some other company's website. How long before we get PnP components for cars like we do with computer components? Car manufacturing will generate more business when we have more adaptable parts that can be ordered, created and delivered within two weeks of visiting Ford's website.

I graduated from a university of Abertay two years ago with an honours in Computer Games Development. I have since stayed in academia to complete my PhD and have the fulfilling job of teaching a few modules on the first, second and third year courses. From my experience in taking the modules and teaching the modules, a degree in CS would have done me just as well, probably better, than my current degree. I have found myself in situations having to explain basic programming concepts to 3rd year students, the same students who were fast tracked into Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 development. I don't mind that they don't understand a particular algorithm, I get frustrated that they don't understand the concept of an algorithm. I don't mind that they don't have a natural talent for mathematics, I get exasperated when I am continually asked "Why do we need to know so much triangle stuff". The best module I had was a module named "Languages and Compilers". Sadly, the module never came up until four year but increased my understanding of programming languages more than 3 years of programming modules. My wish, with hindsight, would be doing my degree in CS and learning the graphical aspect of programming in my own time, creating a library of small, simple yet well programmed games for any future employer to see.

My concern is that this type of software application is too generally available. There is a reason why governments around the world use custom created software for their major military projects. Don't get me wrong, if a widely available technology can be used to aid in conflicts then I am all for it but I would suggest that putting trust in software that wasn't designed with a military purpose in mind is a dangerous mindset for people to get in.

Surely for the purpose of a space elevator orbiting the Earth it would be more suitable to power it using solar panels that are also in orbit and just hook it up via that.

Point taken ;)