It seems to me that phone vendors have not changed their mindset from the pre-smartphone era. Back then, no one cared about OS or version. You got an integrated product and it never changed. Today, it feels like phone makers still think "we put it together and ship it - this idea of later changing or upgrading the software is kind of weird to us."

To them, a phone is complete and unchangeable one it leaves the factory. Alas for their mindset, consumers see phones as customizable, upgradeable devices. If they were $50 each, sure, just replace it, but at $500+ (even if it's stretched over two years), people are making a more significant investment and don't want to be left behind.

You neatly summarize Polish foreign policy in the 1930s.

How about a Personal Appeal against SOPA?

Yes, I am joking.

Well said.

Exactly. The idea that "the last time the US declared war was WWII" is a canard.

The reason I talk on the phone is that it take me 50 minutes to drive 15 miles on the freeway. Fix the roads, and I won't need to talk on the phone. The problem, as is often the case, is government incompetence.

(And no, public transit is not the answer. I live in a city with excellent public transit, light rail, etc., and the fastest public transit trip is 1.5 hours.)

I think you may be exaggerating a bit, given that some people run WP blogs on VPSes with only 64MB of total system memory.

What is the difference between being "pretty much a massive juggernaut" and being a massive juggernaut?

What is the difference between a habit and a distinct habit?

This is not even remotely "akin".

Given their earlier shenanigans with photoshopped rocket launching pictures and oil drums welded together to look like antiaircraft missiles, which is more likely in your mind:

• The Iranians figured out a way to take control of a satellite-controlled drone and pilot it to a safe landing (which even if you're the U.S. requires trained technicians), or
• They spotted some wreckage, looked up the model on Wikipedia, and built a quick balsa wood model in a shop to film a quick video.

No. In fact, there's no one who is even halfway bright.

Unless you can convince large corporate donors, trial lawyers, unions, etc. that this is in their best interest, you haven't a prayer of getting elected, much less enacting any legislation.

If you want to change the way things work, you need to become very rich first. After which, you'll have a vested interest in making sure things don't change. This is true in all democracies.

And you'd be wrong. Why should I, as an author, have to lift a finger just to make Google's life easier? I'm not making any money on what Google's doing. If they want to use something I've written, let them come and ask me for permission.

Indeed, I've periodically read whole chapters or parts of chapters of books on Google Books. Sometimes it's saved me from having to buy the book.

Authors, take heart - Google will probably just give up on this project in a little while, like most of their projects.