Then you don't work with 24" monitors then. Also while a trackpad or nub is okay for some work, sometimes you want to use a mouse. Yes, you can plug these into your laptop but when you have to do it many times a day, it gets cumbersome.

Then there are also all the other cameras like ATMs, street cameras, etc. It would take more effort to correlate when someone was walking towards the phone before the call and away from the phone after the call, but it can be done.

MS always had talent. The problem was that MS wasted it with a corporate structure that promoted intracompany fighting rather than cooperation.

This is probably the same reason they won't fully adopt Thunderbolt. While there are some reasons like licensing and requirements, one major reason is that laptop docking stations make a lot of money and customers often need to buy new ones with newer models. Switching to a cable that is universal will make them less money.

Two things come to mind: 1) The bottom line. Many companies don't always do the little things because it takes time and money to do things. I'm pretty sure an engineer from another company came up with great ideas but they were cut in planning/development. Apple will spend years on a product before releasing it and they will charge enough to make this strategy work. 2) Featuritis. Many companies focus on too many features. This is related to #1. Following the history of Apple, their products never have the most features. Apple seems to focus only on a handful of them and get them right before adding new ones. Geeks here don't appreciate that as Apple will never win the bullet point count, but for the average consumer they are less impressed with numbers of features than working features.

Take for example, the original iPod that synced automatically when you plugged in the cable. I think it was at Jobs' insistence that this be a 1-step process. Now doing so isn't technically difficult, but it takes coordination between hardware and software. It also required a philosophical change away from file/directory based transfer to one based on metadata. For example, most people don't care which directory/subdirectory their favorite songs where located but what they were (songs by The Rolling Stones, blue-grass songs, etc.). Now other companies might have been focused on other features like playing every format from Ogg to WMA or an equalizer with 11 bars, etc. Apple concentrated on making the UI simpler for the average consumer.

The problem in my area is the total lack of real competition. In my area, I can only get Time Warner. Verizon FIOS isn't available. AT&T U-verse is not available. Another cable provider is not available. Yet most of them clutter my mailbox with flyers and ads about their service that I can't get. In Austin, it looks like AT&T is offering fiber finally (but only because Google is coming). My friend who works in the industry says that AT&T is hedging their bets by offering it in adjacent areas that Google Fiber will not initially service (if only to survive).

My problem is that the government allowed the telecom industry to charge the public to build the infrastructure to build high-speed and they've taken the money and done nothing with it. And the government hasn't taken the industries to task.

My personal opinion is that Apple really couldn't care less. They sell media because it sells devices which makes much more than content. Opening their platform does nothing to sell more iDevices.

Well if you remember 1984, the main character's job was to re-write history removing individuals from books, news stories, etc.

Chuck Norris would not use French. :)

It's pronounced like howling because Chuck Norris pronounces it that way. Check-mate. :P

In order to apply anti-trust laws there has to be a monopoly. Google has neither a monopoly in fiber nor TV nor telephone. Using existing anti-trust laws would not likely be applicable.

I see the problem as laws haven't kept up with technology. When the original law was written (1978), there were no such things as ISPs.

Then what is AT&T's problem? The two exceptions to utility pole access are cable system or telecommunications providers.

This memo was supposedly from IBM on how to replace and clean mouse balls. It is not clear whether it was serious or in jest.