....so what's the point of making huge investments to ensure that mankind continues on some other planet? On the flip side, billions of humans on earth need food, shelter, clean water, and education right fucking now. Once we get our house in order I could see wasting a few trillion dollars on a cosmic vanity project, but not until then.

xxx

was easy to customize. Win 7 made it much harder, although the Pin to Start Menu feature was pretty slick. I hate Win 8.

Fair enough. Exchange does behave pretty well on my iPhone.

Oh who am I kidding, it's slashdot.

...in it's absence. Honestly, is it really that hard to develop an Outlook client? I mean, I understand that Microsoft is only one of the biggest companies in the world, but, still....

"The widespread franchise rules giving car dealers virtual monopolies in their territories "

If there were only one or two car manufacturers, sure, that would be a monopoly. Yes, in this case the franchise model is enforced by the government, but that doesn't automatically make it monopolistic. Plenty of franchisers outside of the auto industry have self-imposed rules regarding franchise location. That's why you don't see two McDonalds across the street from each other.

Which is more monopolistic: A system that forces car manufacturers to sell to consumers through independent dealers--many of whom carry more than one brand, or a system where the manufacturer owns the whole distribution chain, including the dealer?

I actually don't have a problem with Tesla's model, and am no fan of dealerships, but let's stop misusing the term "monopoly" to describe the current situation.

...although I'd say the devs were on something stronger than antidepressants.

All kidding aside, Win8 does seem to be a product of "Who cares what our customers want, we'll do it our way and they can just suck it", which pretty much defines comfortable complacency.

The author's question is not "Why does Netflix offer DVDs?". It's "Why is some content offered exclusively on DVDs, and not offered for streaming?" Yes, the summary is kind of misleading.
Welcome to Slashdot.

Sure, DVDs are all kinds of wonderful. But I prefer streaming because I don't have to plan what I watch days in advance, or deal with unpacking, packing, and mailing a DVD. No, it's not difficult, but streaming is more convenient. For me. If you prefer a DVD, fine. Again, the issue isn't DVDs, it's Netflix', or the creators', refusal to allow streaming of some content.

I am a subscriber. The author mentions he paid Google to stream The Dark Night Rises, because Netflix won't stream it. That's not an older movie that only a couple hundred people will watch. I mostly use Netflix for TV shows, and typically the latest seasons are DVD only, it can take a year or two after DVD release before they'll stream them. I suppose your reality may be that DVD-only applies to old movies exclusively, but that's not my experience. Many of the most popular series--Big Bang Theory, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones--are DVD only, and it sure isn't because no one is watching them.

I agree. I deal with a lot of software publishers, and most of the old-timers are terrified of "the cloud". Want to run an app on a terminal server instead of installing on a couple hundred desktops? Get ready for a long discussion with Legal. More companies are starting to get it, but there are still a lot of holdouts. I expect content providers are the same: sure, they'll let you stream their old crap that's just clogging up the bargain bins, but there's no way they'll expose their shiny new releases to the horrors of "the cloud". It's a control thing, or rather the perception of control.

I'm not saying that's the only reason, but I expect it's a factor.

but the author actually did his homework and seems pretty reasonable. Wouldn't kill Tesla to put a little more space between the pedals in the future. Retrofitting would be a nightmare, but hardly seems necessary.

...got a poor performance review.

If "Maths" is plural, shouldn't that be "In the rest of the world they are called Maths"? Ipso facto: Math.

I have no doubt that he can be quite harsh when the situation calls for it. Part of being a CEO is bringing down the hammer. A lot of them don't know when to turn that off, I give Ballmer some credit for not being one of them.