[...] or WorldWideWeb on NeXT, which I believe was a 320x240 4000 color machine [...]
The NeXT had a 17" monitor with 1120x832 pixels with 4 different shades of gray.
As far as I know, there is nowhere left in the world that is as free as the United States [...]
I think I'm far more free in Australia than you are in the United States, and Norway has us both beaten. But perhaps we both have an unrealistic idea of what "free" means.
Norway is great in many (most?) ways, but I do believe the US has us beat when it comes to real and/or legislative freedoms... I've lived in the US for 15+ years but only visited Australia, so perhaps you had something specific in mind?
Perhaps now they feel they've captured a significant enough portion of the market and decided to start capitalizing on it? That would be my (admittedly uninformed) guess[...]
Google Maps API is still free to use as long as you don't charge for access to your website: https://developers.google.com/maps/licensing
have access to a great deal of actual and current mobile usage data, and this is just completely at odds with reality.
That is my experience too. Statcounter is more representative of what I'm seeing: http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_os-US-monthly-201012-201112
CLI is dead and has been for years. People don't want it and that's why the world runs on GUI.
Two words: Windows PowerShell.
He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion