No doubt about that.

What are the key technologies needed in order to do that and where do they stand today? How do we afford that while focus is on survival in much of the world - and on greater comfort in the rest of it? From where I stand it seems likely that we will have to wait for something drastic to get motivated.

A little DRM goes a long way. Since publishers, developers, indies all seem to come and go, my problem is most likely going to be with their lack of reliability and permanence than my "piracy" (non-existent). I do play games from my library dating back almost 20 years - and if a game is any good I expect to do so over the next 20 years. Without this assurance (and most DRM fails to give any), I will not buy any game until it hits the bargain bin. However, no DRM at all might be too generous, too tempting. Steam as an independent repository makes it possible to buy otherwise DRMed games with some hope of a future. So does GOG. They also make some effort to have the most recent version. Works for me so I trade with them and not the publisher / developer. I think that the various players in this market will finally figure it out and move away from boxed, weirdly DRMed and from DRM free - and use a little DRM to keep things honest.

When I finish a build, I fill a ziplok poly bag full of all the stuff which I got with the parts I used for the box. Then I stuff it in a 5.25" bay which doesn't block ventilation. Sure beats looking though the stack of paper under my desk or in boxes or spare part bins.

URL: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-cow-catcher.htm

Guess Microsoft is just providing an updated slant on how to keep the dung out..