I can understand that Apple wants to speed up Siri (the latency on Siri can be horrible, even over a fast WiFi connection), but why do it this way rather than enabling simultaneous client-side speech recognition a la Google Now (even in the Google app on iOS)?

Google's method allows the speech recognition process to appear instantaneous. On a Nexus 4, Google Now recognizes speech almost as fast as you can speak.

Siri on the other hand can often take several seconds to understand a request, even under iOS 7. To me, this more than anything else is what diminishes the user experience.

There is so much wrong with this one statement I don't know where to begin. First, Flash is not a video codec, and in fact most Flash video uses H.264. Second, most GPUs these days (both x86 and ARM) have dedicated hardware decoding units for native H.264 that are extremely power efficient and don't require any significant amount of processing from the CPU. Flash playback of H.264 video, on the other hand, requires significant CPU resources (Flash video has for years been a notorious way to get the system fans to spin up on Macs, while QuickTime H.264 playback never does, even in 1440p). Similarly, iPhones and iPads can play H.264 video for 10 hours on a charge, a feat that would never be possible if H.264 were as inefficient as you claim. Flash, on the other hand, was notorious for eating battery during its brief existence on Android.

Actually, since it doesn't stand upright without a kickstand, what it really becomes is a portable desktop, since you can't use it with a keyboard in your lap, in bed, or on an airline tray table.

I think his point, however poorly made, was that if they did switch to micro-USB, there would have to be more ports to supplement the additional capabilities the dock connector is used for (line-level analog audio, analog and HDMI video, additional power options, etc). At the very minimum, there would have to be a second minijack connector to provide line-level audio, in a standardized location across all their devices so that it could still be placed in a dock, along with a separate stabilizing mechanism since otherwise you would have to rely on the minijack connector and micro-USB connector holding the device in place. This sounds like a less elegant solution by far. And is likely the reason that no other manufacturer has a docking standard that works across all of their devices.

You mean the iPod nano headphone jack location from 2005 and iPod touch headphone jack location from 2007?

Your commend was that "the hardware is superior in many ways," with that being your sole example. So you're saying that it's relevant that your Galaxy Nexus camera is superior to a five-year-old iPhone's?

I don't believe that you have a Galaxy Nexus —or have even read a review of it — because if you did you'd know its camera is by far its worst quality, in no way comparable to the camera in the iPhone 4S. The Galaxy S III on the other hand uses the same image sensor as the iPhone 4S.

er, could not be used with an adapter.

The Nokia format was much worse in one crucial way related to usability: it was not pin-compatible with existing SIM and Micro-SIM cards so it could not be used in a device that used one of the larger formats without an adapter. Which means that the one advantage that SIM has over an serial number-based activation system would have been largely mooted.

I'm actually impressed that they're admitting that they don't know. It seems wildly implausible that most statements about what was stolen during any given network hack are actually definitive.

Odd situation, because I think you meant to say exacerbates, yet I don't think that exacerbates is what you meant.

This is why you use a room correction system like Audyssey MultEQ XT. The difference that finite impulse response equalization (over the frequency and time domains) makes is staggering beyond description.

Seriously, how do Android fans accept the cognitive dissonance that allows them to complain about anything on the iPhone that requires jailbreaking while ignoring that just to backup an Android phone requires rooting? Which is not only often far more complicated than jailbreaking, but is almost never the same process between any two Android phones, risks voiding your warranty, and loses you certain capabilities like being able to watch movies from the Android Market?

Less than half the screen size, half the memory, and a subsidized price tag makes that easier for them.

The iPad 1 is $299 (yes, that's "refurbished," but many people believe that's just Apple's strategy for price discrimination since Apple "refurbished" products are indistinguishable from new).

That's the real competitor for the Kindle Fire, and with over twice the screen real estate, twice the memory, and an infinitely better selection of apps than are available in the Amazon Appstore, for most people the iPad is likely to be the better purchase.