I'm not entirely sure you understand the difference here. You do realize the auto company interfaces don't have images of fruit stamped into them? Right?

1. The cost of upkeep is built into either the initial or recurring price of a product. There is no recurring cost, so the initial cost to the consumer does matter. Price is one of the factors taken into account by people when factoring in how much service they expect. XP was sold with an end of support date and that date has already been extended. No one purchasing it new should be relying on updates now. Should they still have to provide support for 98? 3.1? DOS?

2. With a quick search I didn't find any information about a recall on 1992 Mazda truck ignitions, so I can't comment on specifics. I will say I haven't heard of government required recalls to decade old vehicles to improve their emissions. Of course a company can support a product for as long as they want, the question is if Microsoft should be legally required to continue support.

3. I dislike most EULAs, sadly, most make it easier to push blame away from the producer, not harder. I don't have a copy of the XP license, but I believe it had disclaimers saying that the installer agreed not to blame Microsoft if their computer was compromised.

4.(out of order)
The cyber-harm claim is a bit worrisome. They should have to continue to support the software because criminals could take advantage of the security holes and cause harm? An OS itself simply can't stop everything, and other software can be modified to create trouble as well. So does all popular software need to be supported for free and forever? Stolen cars are used in crimes with some frequency, should Mazda have to upgrade your ignition to use a transponder key to try and make sure that someone malicious doesn't take it and ram it into something?

Specifics of immunization requirements are something I'm not entirely decided, but...

Parents who don't immunize children are endangering public safety, not just hurting themselves and their families. There is a small but significant percentage of the population that simply can't be immunized. Most commonly because they are too young for a specific immunization or because they have a weakened immune system that makes the immunization dangerous. There are also people who were immunized, but the immunization didn't take. These people rely on the general population to be immunized to create a herd immunity that keeps the diseases in check and/or wipes the diseases out.

Mod parent up.

People forget that not everyone can be immunized. The people who can't be immunized rely on herd immunity to prevent a disease from spreading to the point that it is dangerous. When you get large number of people opting out of immunization, the herd immunity becomes too weak to prevent a disease from taking hold and spreading. Once it starts spreading, the likelihood for a non-immunized person to catch it can shoot up dramatically.

For a $100 software package with no recurring costs 14 years is pretty good. Besides, XP is safe in the sense that cars are safe. Recalls and replacements are issued if a problem is found that causes the thing to physically injure/kill people during what is considered normal use. If a malicious 3rd party breaks into your 20 year old car, there is no recall.

While those cars from the 80's and 90's still run, they are less safe and easier to steal than new cars. The only updates that have to be released for them are if they find a way to injure their owners. XP updates are security updates. Did they give your 80's car a free update to a transponder key to make it more secure? Did they install new airbags or traction control system to keep it safe?

I'm sure if your XP version finds a way to jump out of the box and injure you that it will be dealt with.

Did they also say that they would take away your RAM at some point if you did have enough? Among other important differences with you story is that an always on connection means that you lose the game whenever the publishers decides to turn it off.

Publisher decisions like this are a perfectly valid thing to complain about. It expresses your displeasure to a company so that they make a product more to your liking, and it warns other people about the faults you care about.

If that number is just pulled from his ass, he has a surprisingly accurate back side.

70% of future oil delivery contracts(oil futures) are owned by speculators, and the large majority of those speculators are hedge funds and major banks. So while it may not be entirely accurate that 70% is accounted for by hedge funds, the real issue being discussed is speculation, and he was right about that.

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/03/rep_peter_defazio_asks_preside.html
http://www.worldenergy.org/documents/congresspapers/84.pdf

There was a ship that tried using Vogon poetry for their password locks once. Unfortunately, after valiantly functioning for 3 weeks, the login daemon it decided it could no longer take it and convinced the ship's navigation system to fly into a nearby star. Further use of password verification system was banned several years later, after an intergalatic agreement was reach that said requiring people to remember Vogon poetry was cruel and inhumane.

I agree with this. My local bookstores would make a lot more money off of me(they already make a bit) if they could make their coffee shops large enough that I could actually sit down. Also, it surprises me how few bookstores seem to host book clubs and events.

Also, only idiots pay anything more than a penny for a humble bundle. /s