OK, let's forget the word "innovation," and say they're both stinking cheats and plagiarists. One difference remains, which is that Apple did it really, really well.

Wait, why would an untraceable, untaxable black market ever become exhausted?

I think things like the internet are the greatest threat to human interconnectedness. It seems to me that the new trend is to congregate on exclusive networks, like the internet. The problem with the internet? Most content is invisible to non-members. Yeah, sure, it's not hard to get online...but what if I don't want to? Is the internet really giving me new informational content (I'm not talking about the social networking aspect) that was not available before in another form among people? No. It's just walling off the information from me.

Director: ... we're gonna have to make some changes. First of all, Franklin, you're no longer the girliest cadet here. Franklin: Humph! We'll see about that!

When you have a 4-year old child it will suddenly be Stuff That Matters. Slashdot does not revolve around you.

Stop it. You're vastly overgeneralizing and you know it. I had maybe 3 sub-par classes during 6 years of undergrad at UF. Just because you hated your university experience, don't try to make some kind of sweeping statement about the rest.

But that positioning is part of the suckitude. What MS is not doing, as others have already said here, is seriously reevaluating what a computer is and how it's being used—not how they think a computer "should" be used, but what the average non-/. user *actually uses a computer for.*

OK, so why is that? Last year I had a minor but enlightening experience when a third-tier extended family member explained that the extent of his computer requirements are having a semblance of facebook on his old (non-"smart") phone. That's when I realized that the idea of the iPad, which was still a rumor at the time, could take off simply because a significant market segment doesn't need the do-everything computer of old, they need a media appliance.

??!?! Perhaps he was a raving lunatic and asshole. How does that "invalidate" the emotional reaction of a viewer of his painting?

I would have thought that too. And I think that's true for setting up a bare bones system that never changes. But most of the times that something has gone wrong, or I've had to change hardware, or upgrade software, everything has gone to hell on me and it turned into a big ordeal, even with Ubuntu. Obviously everyone's mileage varies here but there are no shortage of the same stories. I love Ubuntu, I really do, but the longer I've maintained an active system the more I've found my initial remark to be true, and it's gotten to the point where I might end up back with another OS. :-/

Doesn't anybody else find it funny that the only people claiming these things are "mindblowing" are their detractors?

As a friend of mine is wont to say: "Linux is only free if your time is worthless."

That's awesome. I know a Dane who learned his English from the first Monkey Island game; his insult swordfighting is unmatchable.

That is fscking terrifying! I take it there wasn't any permanent damage? D: