Yeah, it pretty much made everyone mad. I always thought /. should have a troll mod.

Yeah that's too much.

Horizontal integration is a monopoly not vertical. I thought everyone knew that.

Damn, too early in the morning to tell even a half decent joke.

We'll the government does that tracking anyhow. So why not? That one thing that makes Google successful as their ads are less intrusive and therefore more effective. I would trust them more with my data than let's say any other third party.

We''l the one thing the SIII copies from Apple is it being closed up more than older Android software. I've noticed this starting from ICS on. I just don't like being charged double for 32 gig of memory when I could probably pay +/- $20 for a 32 gig vs. a 16 gig card at Amazon.

Other than that I have messed with an SIII and it is great BUT I own an LG Optimus with 2.2.2 on it and new apps still work just fine. A 4.3" screen vs. a 4.8". A 1.0 ghz dual core vs. a 1.5 ghz dual core in the SIII (in the US){I think it has a Quad core in other countries}. Mine has HDMI out with a cable. I dunno how to that with an SIII. The 2) 3D cameras on an Optimus and no camera button sucks a little.

BUT you are correct. Apple's insistence on making their phones out of aluminum instead of good ole injection molded plastic is good in theory but not in practice. This makes them slower to change in the long run.

Where Microsoft actually has a monopoly is in small businesses at least with their servers. You know small businesses are getting rarer than rocking horse poop.

I see this too AND Exchange+Outlook CAN be broken. So Microsoft better keep trying to come up with some new stuff that people might actually want.

All I can say is how much does it cost and can it be circumvented?

Yeah, really.

I agree it can't be worth a crap since it leaves much out.

a) Doesn't Google navigation have this? I don't think you are really going to want to use your phone for sat nav unless you a walking in an unfamiliar city. Otherwise I would just use what is built into my car to tell me to turn here and there and so on.

Amazon has the instructions all over their site, but maybe it ought to be explained when you set up your phone. If I need music that Android Play doesn't have for download or even Amazon (like certain band such as AC DC aren't on even iTunes) I can then order the CD of practically any artist I want fro Amazon.

It appears to be a war between Apple and everybody else which Apple seems to be winning now on profit. Google, Amazon, many cell phone makers and many others are against Apple and together can Apple sue them all out of business?

IMO Apple has always been the bad guy by locking down everything since the Apple II. Are people really that dumb? My 2 year old Android actually will do more than this walled up Apple except it might be 5% nicer in build quality but not power or price, screen size, processor speed and it just works IF you just stick with Amazon on the sideloading thing. They work a little different and it really amounts to people not wanting any hand holding at all and Apple provides that. With Android there is a little more tinkering, but if you take the time you really get a better machine for less money.

Wireless extension cord. Everyone wants one an Intel could make billions.

Wasn't about 3 Whitworth wrenches capable of removing an Engine from a Centurion tank? We'll that and a hammer.

This reply is about your ratchets. Believe me the same thing is happening with mechanical stuff. Just look at the number of times Apple has changed fasteners on their iPhone so you can't open it without buying another tool. It's all part of the plan to keep you in the fold.