I had the good luck of going Android first, and I heartily recommend that to everyone.

Now I bought myself an iPhone 4S, and the freedom of just downloading apps as opposed to doing rigorous background research is quite liberating. Some sense is still a good thing, though, since not even Apple's perfect. And I get all the latest updates, without having to flash Cyanogenmod.

Magic boxes that are low maintenance? Oh god please yes. I am SO tired of hunting for drivers, troubleshooting software compatibility problems, having to run fifteen different update managers.... in general, the "magic box" approach makes things easier for users - and what Microsoft is doing here looks much like the ability to pull buggy applications and malware out of the market. This makes things so much easier for the sort of person who doesn't like to think about the tool rather than the task - which, to be fair, is most of them - and thus is bound to make people happier to use Windows. It's a solid move, business-wise, even if it'll distance the paranoid control-freaks.

You're assuming the competitor will be large enough to take Microsoft to court and expect not to run out of money before the proceedings are done.

Windows port of Evince is somewhat lacking, especially given it's way of handling file associations and compressed comic book files.

Frankly, if it came out of the box as a portable touch-nothing install and had cbz and cbr support, I'd probably use it and drop Foxit.

Prison should keep people from re-offending - separation from the society works fine this way, and rehabilitation helps to keep that effect post-prison.

Judging from statistics, it does look an awful lot like severity of punishment does not serve as a significant deterrent to other people - therefore, any aim to punish offenders instead of rehabilitating them is unnecessary brutality.

How about having some proof for your outlandish claims?

What makes the avoidance of unnecessary brutality civilized?

Well, I'm stumped.

Most of those things involve other people. These are prisoners, possibly violent.

Video games are used for much the same negligent parents use them for here - to keep people who would need attention busy and easy to manage.

Surprisingly enough, Apple not wanting people to stop buying their hardware can be incentive enough.

Not having to install a 3rd party mod in order to get latest version of the firmware?

Okay, WHAT?

Do you have any idea what kind of a country Finland is? I mean, we're more advanced than the US!

New technologies, complex electronics... hmm. Ever heard of, say, Nokia, the company firing thousands of very highly educated people?

They are Educated Stupid and they have no inkling to just how EVIL they think.

Hint hint: What is oil made out of?

Answer: Various hydrocarbons. Now, what are trees and grass made out of?

The "ooh" moment should strike about now. And to top it off, all you need for processing plants into effective fuel is... wait for it... energy. Which you can get from solar plants. We're far from being restricted to oil, it just happens to be cheap at the present time.

Defining it by first neurological activity would be sufficient for the current purposes.

Defining it by self-awareness - or development of memory - would be more along the lines, but eventually I don't see the advantage. Neurological activity is hard to dispute.

But we should let any dangerous incompetent quack take people's money and then apply "treatments" that are nothing but bullshit! It's the American way!

... wait, wealthy Americans turning to Europe for medical treatment...?