I avoided iMacs altogether until the PPC -> x86 switch because Apple used to provide an entry-level PowerMac tower. That went away with the Mac Pro. Since I'd never had a problem with any of my previous Macs (excepting the iBook I spilled Jack Daniels' all over), it honestly didn't occur to me that I'd need to be cracking the thing open. Since I am no longer a gamer, I don't have much of a need to constantly tweak/upgrade my system.

Of course I always knew an all-in-one wouldn't be serviceable. Until my recent troubles that was always only a theoretical concern (in theory, if something breaks, fixing it will suck)... The iMac was the first (and last) all-in-one desktop I've ever owned. All the disadvantages of a laptop, combined with all of the disadvantages of a desktop. Had Apple sold a reasonably priced desktop machine, I might still be on OS X. .

Oh come on. Are you suggesting I can walk into a local computer parts shop, pick up a replacement part for my iMac, then follow some painstaking procedure to disassemble the thing and be back up in running in a matter of a few hours? I've replaced a hard drive on an iMac before, it is not the quick swap out you seem to be suggesting.

I used to love to tinker with this sort of thing when I was younger, but these days I'm busy doing actual, real work on my machines and just don't have the time. Using a machine made up of standard parts helps me minimize down time. Not to mention the parts are significantly cheaper (Apple is really proud of their replacement parts, have you ever seen a price list? Oh I know, go to eBay, because that's fast, esp, when you're in the middle of a project, approaching a deadline, and need to get back up and running right now) and readily available from a local source.

I moved from Linux to Mac OS X back in the days of OS X 10.1. I bought myself a PowerMacintosh G3 (Beige desktop) when I was in college on ebay and thus begun my Apple fanboydom (as an aside, spell check wants me to change 'fanboydom' to 'bondwoman').

Over the years, as my income increased, I began buying myself brand new Macs from Apple - A PowerMac G4, A PowerMac G5, various PowerBook/Macbooks and finally iMacs. My experience with my 27" iMac finally did it for me. I had, against my better judgement, bought an all-in-one because the Mac Pro was just too dang expensive.

I quickly learned the hard way that all-in-ones are NOT user-serviceable. Power supply go bad? No, you can't slap another one in your tower, you get to lug your big iMac into an Apple Store, walk past all of the hipsters fondling their iDevices, and up to the "genius" bar and leave it there for a week. A week during which, btw, you're not getting any work done. I was so mad, I blogged: http://jamesadam.me/blog/why-im-switching-from-mac-to-linux/

So, the hardware situation, combined with the whole iOSification thing you mentioned, has driven me back into the clammy arms of the penguin. I tried a handful of distributions, and finally settled on Xubuntu, because I hate Gnome 3.

Perhaps you're thinking of Titan. Another good possibility for colonization. Actually probably in the top 3 (along with the moon and mars). Though, you'd need a really good winter coat. Really good.

You know how I know you posted from a mobile device?

I once worked on simulation software for a new satellite that could be patched on-orbit (an orbiting satellite might as well be on Mars -- if you break it, it's going to stay broken). One of the main purposes of the software simulator, which ran the actual flight code that was on the bird, was to test new patches before they were pushed to the vehicle (and the vehicle itself did some validation of the patch after the upload was complete before applying it). Of course, hardware-in-the-loop testing using a duplicate test satellite on the ground was also done as a final step. In addition to a software simulator, I'm sure NASA has a duplicate rover or two in their labs for testing. The amount of testing done on these programs would drive you insane.

As a software developer, I have yet to hold a job where I felt as though I was being paid to produce quality software.

Me: "In order to implement the new functionality I've had to rewrite the entire module"
PM: "Ooooh, what's the SLOC?"
Me: "It's decreased by about 2000."
PM: "WTF?! How am I supposed to report that on my weekly metrics spreadsheet?"

Yes, Forever War is my all-time favorite sci-fi novel. Can't wait for the movie, hopefully it doesn't get the Starship Troopers treatment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_War#Film

So if I'm hired, either on a contract basis or as an employee, to write a software application for someone else and that person takes the product of my labor (for which he paid and owns the copyright) and makes millions with it, how did I get screwed?

Many years ago, when I was working on a large govt contract, one of the GS civilian managers got caught messing around with his secretary in one of the stairwells (security cameras? where?) and was not fired. He was instead 'promoted' into some position that, best I could tell, involved organizing social events and morale/team building activities. Since he couldn't be fired, he was placed in a slacker, low-stress position where he wouldn't be entrusted with anything that was actually important.

I've always wondered why we don't have a massive geothermal power-generating complex sitting on top of Yellowstone. I remember visiting the park several years ago and as I watched Old Faithful erupt, I couldn't shake the thought that we really ought to be exploiting the awesome potential of this place.

No, when the young talent gets married and has kids they find a job in another part of the country with a sane COL. I interviewed with a few of these 'hip' companies in SV, and they tend to balk when they hear my current salary (and I currently live in a rather low cost of living area). Not to mention that, at the ripe old of age of 32, I feel like a geezer as soon as I walk in the door at your typical startup. Now when I get a call from a recruiter who thinks I'm perfect for some position in the SF Bay area, I just say "No, Thanks."

I don't know. I rather don't like the theme to "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", but years of watching that show when I was a kid has permanently burned the lyrics into my brain. Many an 80s sitcom theme song is still rattling around in my brain as well. Also, I only had to hear the nails-on-a-chalkboard-awful "Just A Friend" by Biz Markie once and I will now be able to instantly recall the lyrics to the chorus until the day I die.

Oh cool, I was beginning to view internet access as a commodity, with no real difference between ISPs... Now I have something to use as a discriminator when selecting a new provider.

So.... AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon just managed to remove themselves from ever being considered by me again (and no, I don't ever knowingly download copyrighted material without paying for it).

Something tells me the mom&pop ISP down the road doesn't have the time/staff/inclination to bother with this kind of crap.

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P.S.: Internet business idea #3,633,235: Privacy-focused ISP.

I think they have the average consumer pretty well pegged. Enough sheep will buy this garbage to ensure it reaches critical mass.