Well, a DNA scanner you just swipe over someone's arm will be nice, but requiring a PS/2 connector will kill it for laptops and the bandwidth of it emulating a keyboard typing out the GATC sequence will be atrocious...

Seriously?
We already do utilize the water that falls from the sky, you know those river things that run into the ocean and most communities were built around?

Water is finite, even that magic skywater. Upstream communities cannot take all the water they want, as downstream communities rely on the same water source. Desalinization technologies not only allow coastal communities to grow where there isn't a major river, but also frees up water for greater upstream use.

Most of the ranches and farms around here are smaller ones, completely family run and usually with both adults working a second full time job. All of them are 10+ miles outside cable and dsl coverage, so 3g service is the only hope for any real internet access ($20 dialup over mechanical switched phonelines that are older than me, second phone line is another $60/month). And the terrain is so hilly even the ones just outside town can't get the wireless internet offered for $100/month by the local ISP.

And yeah, the sound recognition one was for humor. Th figured the "Holyshit it's a bear!" call part would tip people off. Crows couldn't give a shit about a bear beyond possible leftovers.

Though it is nice to see people on the opposite end than the urbanites who've never been to an area that wasn't 90% contrete and asphalt. Even if you are just as incapable of seeing a situation any different from your own.

I can!
Instantaneous access to current market prices. Farmers who have this access have reported much better returns on their harvests.
Access to emergency services incase of an accident. Some ranches around here don't have even basic cell access.
Instant access to veterinary, horticultural, ect... resources. "Never seen this bug before, is it good or bad for my crops? If I don't squish now will I have to napalm my field later?"
Sound and image recognition programs. Not many people can tell the different between a crow's mating call and their "Holyshit it's a bear!" call.
Maps.
Repair resources. Not everyone knows their quad bolt by bolt, knowing your kawasaki has a loose clutch linkage can save a lot of walking.
Entertainment. Not all cowboys find the great outdoors so incredibly breathtaking that they never get bored, and a horse can navigate by itself better than any californian driver.

Yeah, all worship must rightfully be directed towards our lord and savior Steve Jobs! Speaking highly of anyone associated with the unholy Competitors is heresy and devil worship!

Or you can just drop the religious shit and accept that the guy did better than most corp employees.

He believes it's unfair for any company to make products that compete with apple, so to legally satisfy FRAND all other companies must transfer ownership of all patents to apple then commit ritual suicide.

I would think a reformat would be a standard part of any retesting procedure.

I don't care which way becomes the "best" choice as long as both styles interface through a standardized connector.
Both sides of chip vs platter will always have their own strengths and weaknesses, I like choice.

It's very easy to see this becoming the highest cost and highest performance drive of the near future that server admins and performance enthusiasts go to. While the SSD takes over as the PC and small device storage of choice.

It wouldn't be that nice. Only approved upgrade kits would work, every 6 months a new $100 kit would come out, and developers would be forced into an SDK that automatically keeps any game's minimum requirements lock-step with the console upgrade schedule. The upgrades would be nothing more than unlock codes for clockspeed and features already built into the machine.

Apple would sue them for ripping off their business model.

I'm guessing Marriott's monetary claims are mostly "It's his fault we have to pay all this money, we wouldn't have to fix anything if he hadn't used those flaws to break in."
He still hacked and deserves what he got, but Marriott is just trying to shift the blame of their security flaws so investors don't point the blame at them.