My last phone was an Optimus V from Virgin... The only problems I had resulted from me rooting and installing a clean version of Android, so I can't blame LG. I would have kept it... it was a bit slow playing angry birds (not what I bought my phone for, though), but I could use it as a mobile hot spot. When I upgraded to a 4G phone, I lost that ability... and didn't want to root it after the earlier problems I'd experienced. But here's the thing: I didn't encounter bugs like the author describes. It worked the way it was supposed to. I didn't mind the camera wasn't all that, I didn't have keyboard problems (although it seems like you can install a third party keyboard app that should fix those problems... not that you should have to). I see a lot of complaining about the author of this article, but I think he raises some good points... I'm reminded of Bill Gates saying that people didn't care about bug fixes, they wanted new features!

Not good enough... we also traded in the minivan when the kids were a bit older, but our small SUVs only get around 23MPG... I'd traded in my 93 Civic that routinely got over 35MPG, now you don't even get that in a Civic or other small car without it being a hybrid or something... with very few exceptions. I may get a Mazda 3 or 6, though. They get upwards of 35.

I will say this, though, to actually contribute to the conversation about minivans... I had no problem driving one, and felt no stigma about it. All the people buying giant SUVs and justifying it because hey, once or twice a year they may buy a big box item and save on delivery! Or they need to carry a lot of passengers... Our Honda Odyssey carried 7 people a lot more comfortably than any SUV I've been in, and when you needed cargo space it was right up there with the big boys when you folded the rear seat down... even more than a lot of big SUVs; add decent towing capacity and overall better mileage, and the only reason for most people not to get one was the "stigma." Unless you're towing a yacht, or need to go off roading, a good (200hp+) minivan is a much more logical choice.

Have you seen the new spate of commercials? Where they're promoting customer satisfaction "guarantee?" I made the mistake last year of trying to save money by dropping satellite TV and going with Comcast, since I already got internet through them. It was a f#!king nightmare. I did have the forethought to set a cancel date for satellite far enough in the future (several weeks) to ensure some overlap... and was able to cancel the cancellation in time. For two missed appointments, hours on hold (unceremoniously being dropped after waiting 90 minutes at one point), and a multitude of unkept promises... for my "gaurantee" I got $20 credit.

I bend over and keep getting comcast for internet because there's no viable alternative where I am... nothing fast enough to allow me to work from home, but I won't give them the chance again for anything else, and I'm biding my time for when I can dump them entirely.

"Today's Silicon Valley is still exceedingly liberal on social issues." GREAT! So are libertarians! Except the pretend ones who only use the guise of libertarianism to protect corporate interests... which isn't particularly libertarian, either.

Fair enough... and we'll judge democrats on what Barack "spread the wealth around" Obama, Joe "Foot in mouth" Biden, Hillary "We're going to take those profits!" Clinton, Harry "We refuse to vote on a budget because it'll show how terrible our fiscal situation is like" Reid, and Nancy "You have to vote for it to see what's in in" Pelosi say and do; and we'll judge republicans based on . . . who? Republicans are such a minority now it's hard to pick... John Boehner? OK. Guess what... it's all bad, and libertarians look like saints and perfectly sane by comparison.

Just because they didn't call it that? What about Macrovision, the fact that every blank CD, DVD, and VHS and Cassette tapes carries with it a fee that gets paid to the RIAA/MPAA no matter what you use it for; the whine's and cries that piracy would destroy the industry from these companies started long before digital and DRM, 40 years ago the RIAA was claiming recordable cassette tapes would put them out of business. Despite history, the content of their whining hasn't changed.

A license can clearly be written such that the law interprets it as the right to view content on a particular medium/format for as long as that is practical.

It can be, but often isn't, and wasn't if we go back in history looking at VHS and DVDs (when they first came out). And I don't hand over the money anymore... I actually buy very little content anymore because of it.

This isn't something important like Health Care or Jobs.

I agree... I wasn't justifying anything illegal. That people violate IP laws because they don't want to pay for their entertainment actually really irks me, and I complain about it all the time. At the same time, it also pisses me off that the honest consumers are the ones that get the most limited flexibility, that get saddled with DRM, and also the "privilege" of paying for it - after all, they are passing the costs of the technology - including licensing the DRM technology - onto us.

Right... I'm actually against IP infringement of any kind - it's all just entertainment, nobody "owes" you a damn thing, while at the same time I have no patience for the exaggerated claims of the industry, or the fact that only the honest paying customers (like me) are the ones saddled with DRM (and I do circumvent it in some cases, so that I can watch what I've legally purchased on my tablet)

However, the problem you describe is that there's a group of people with X amount of entertainment dollars, they spend it on one thing... then think they're entitled to the other things, also. I have a serious problem with people that think that mentality is somehow justified. None of us are entitled to games or songs or movies for free. If you do don't want to pay what's being asked, don't watch.

I agree with both of you... I think the experience is often terrible, with a-holes with cellphones (even just texting... might as well be waving a flashlight around), crying kids, whispering and giggling, the sound of dozens of people munching on popcorn or something... but if you go at off-times, it can be really quite good. We go to Sunday matinees... not only aren't they very popular, but half the people in GA seem to be in church anyway.

I admit I don't bother even looking in the library because so many people want the new, big, popular releases that it's a pain; you go on a wait list and then you don't actually get to see it when you want to. For older movies it's probably quite good. At the same time, Netflix and Amazon Prime have enough stuff that I don't have to bother driving to the library just to get a movie to watch. But I agree that watching streaming at home is a huge cost savings if you're willing to wait for the release instead of seeing a movie right away. For us, going to the movies has become more of a social thing, where the family gets together and goes out and enjoys the movie, then maybe we get food afterwards; but we don't do that very often (one reason is we all rarely agree on what movie to see). As far as the original topic is concerned, I absolutely hate when people rip off IP, when the show a complete lack of respect for the content creators. We're talking about movies here, not some necessity of life. If you can't live without watching some movie, you have no rights to "take" it without paying, period. At the same time, I am no fan of the movie or recording industries (or gaming industry), I hate DRM, I think they'd be better off saving their money instead of paying all that extra money for the technical restrictions (both hardware and licensing payments) and paying their lawyers... there are actually honest people like me who would still pay for content, and we wouldn't be punished with DRM while the "pirates" get their content without restriction. It's backwards. IOW, if they just accept some loss and move on, we'd all be a whole lot better off.

They want it both ways... when it's convenient, they are selling you a license. When you say "OK, I've paid for the license, now I want the content I've paid for in a different format," they claim you paid for the content on that original medium.

It's OK, Timothy, some of us still understand sarcasm.

When we make soceity beholden to us, be become beholden to society. You can call it an unintended consequence, but no one with a brain can say it was an unforeseen consequence.

The problem with your assessment is that everyone wants to do music, art, entertainment, science, research and experimentation... nobody wants to clean the bathrooms, haul trash, unclog the shit in the sewers... we need all those people, too. What's their "motivation?" Let's face it, MOST jobs are shit. People might find it rewarding to create new serums, materials, hardware or software, music and entertainment... who finds it rewarding to flip burgers?

Agree... seems like a substantial portion of society doesn't want to be free if it means having the illusion of security (financial and/or physical).