Has no one heard of the Netduino - it's been out for a quite a while. Arduino-like, and programmed with .NET Micro Framework:

http://netduino.com/

"PS: Even worst-case, this would be a chilling effect only if your iPhone app included an in-app payment system."

While I agree with most of your post, I don't agree with this last point. I've been warming up to be an indie dev on mobile devices, and this chills my enthusiasm in a very general way. I don't know when some butt-munch is going to pull a bogus patent out of their pocket and sue me over something that should never even have been granted a patent, let alone cost me legal fees to defend against. It's like a minefield now, and it is really going to be a serious impediment to innovation. We need to collectively tell the government to knock this stuff off, and fast, lest we find ourselves in the technology wastebasket soon.

The next couple of years are going to be very interesting in the U.S., with the Republicans controlling the House, but the Democrats retaining the Senate and Presidency. It seems that the only thing both parties agree on is the dismantling of the middle class - so perhaps policies that help the super rich and powerful secure more of our middle class wealth will not be gridlocked.

Offshoring technology jobs is bad for our economy in many ways, both short and long term. Anyone who tells you otherwise has something to sell. It doesn't take an advanced degree in economics to have some common sense.

You lost me at "tax and spend". We should get past bumper-sticker assertions, especially when they're not even right. I guess "tax less but spend more" isn't as catchy, but it seems to work for the Republicans.

There is a lot of criticism in the comments - for instance:

Hardware mfgs won't go for this
Consumers won't care
There aren't enough people who _do_ care to make a difference

Some of this may be true, stark reality. But if that's the case, then I ask, what do we do instead?

A lot of us feel strongly that the rise of constrained, "walled garden" computing, especially in mobile devices (phones, iPad, etc.) is a Bad Thing(tm). These mobile devices, along with increasingly complex embedded systems, may well be the future of computing. These days, computing = access to information. Do you really, really want your information device to be nothing more than a puppet for someone else to control? We've all read the books and seen the movies - we know where this road ends. I don't want to go there.

Already, the corporate-owned and operated consolidated media is doing its best to spoon-feed everybody the daily ration of irrelevant crap or pre-digested "here's what to think" news stories. And due to the trend we're discussing, soon the only place we'll be able to get any information at all is with our fully-controlled, censored, happy happy joy joy goodcitizendevices.

But this gets worse, because once the corporations control everything, it's only one small step away from government abuse. Been paying attention to the trends lately? Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-law enforcement, but there must be balance. When all tech is locked down and we have no choices, it will be too late to wonder if we should have just allowed it to happen.

So, honestly, if this FSF effort isn't the answer, what is? Because as long as we want to remain a free people, we can't just stand by and watch, if not facilitate, as a select few take full control of the systems we rely on for our information.

"July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind."

If Mankind can return during my lifetime, I'll be delighted. I don't particularly care which section of Mankind leads the way - I'll rejoice with them when we venture out again.

Think what we could accomplish if we all worked together? Maybe someday we could get out of our own back yard.

Perhaps not a dirty word, but I've never heard it used in a positive or respectful fashion. Perhaps that's just my own bias from observation, I stand corrected. In any event, I did appreciate the information in your post...

You had interesting information in your post, but when I saw the word "Obamacare", my Glenn Beck automated filter kicked in. Try to keep the useless talking points phrases out of it next time, and perhaps your information won't be lost in the noise.

I don't think this is it. I think we have been conditioned by the corporate overlords to accept the market prices without question. Our cell phone market, while not an explicit cartel, certainly has the feel of one. There is no meaningful competition and there are significant infrastructure barriers to entry. Also, there is certainly no meaningful regulation. So, the players can charge what they want, and we've just become used to it.

The whole "get the phone cheap and get locked in for 2 years" trick also works. However, to the layperson, buying an unlocked phone of the right technology and getting it activated is a pretty big barrier here, while it may not be that way elsewhere. Again, the quasi-cartel effect.

Except that I believe Microsoft OEM licenses are not transferable. Crazy as it sounds, that Windows license isn't even yours to use as you please, even though you paid for it. It's lunacy.

From what I've seen, anti-piracy mechanisms might, at best, deter real copyright infringment with a 10% effectiveness. But they are very effective at eroding the customer experience. Take these examples:

- laser holes on floppies
- parallel port "dongles"
- DVD encryption
- Product activation
- DRM

Funky floppies meant you couldn't back the program up (and lost it when the disk went south). Parallel port dongles would get lost or broken. DVD encryption isn't much of a hassle but it does mean you have to take the physical disk everywhere you go. Product activation is pesky, especially if you don't have a connection to the Internet when you want to activate. And let's not even talk about the dollars and time lost with music DRM.

Companies are desparate to have their IP rights protected. I get that, and even symphathize. But it's inexcusable to keep putting that burden on the PAYING customers who actually buy their stuff. After more than two decades of this crap, I'm flat-out sick of it.

I would go to great lengths to move my IT customers to Linux. Can someone PLEASE write a servicable office suite so we can cut the cord?

Isn't that past tense? I thought the exclusivity leverage was something that was forbidden by the DOJ in their ruling. Of course, I could be full of beans.

I'm in Oregon and I'd like to see some numbers to back up your claim. I wouldn't be surprised if gas was a little higher, but 25 cents/gallon? I am skeptical. Also, be sure to factor in that different states of the US have wide variations in gas price, and as far as I know, just Oregon and one other state (can't recall) are the only ones that have this provision.