It's too dented in to be used effectively as a doorstop. He needs a new one.

So, they also do deceptive marketing too, I guess.

Because they never advertise that the big "investment" firms pay extra to put a finger on the balance between the buy and sell price.

And they don't "make" the market, they just game it. Because they constantly offer X, then cancel the order to offer X+-little, even getting to cancel their offer before a 'regular' person gets a chance to accept it.

No, it's obvious why they have more expensive packages than what you want to pay. Because they like getting more money (which worked on you, as you paid more instead of dropping it, or switching if that is possible where you live).

Sure it's all fine and dandy, right up until the point where the algae becomes sentient, and then you are trapped in the basement with a 400 lb blob of algae looking at you as it's next meal.

More importantly, why are we being forced to subsidize our ISP's sideline by paying for the electricity and providing the physical security for their public network?

No, you wouldn't. It would be spent on something else.

Finland.

Yes, but now that they are making a zillion percent profit on SMS messages, they can't go back to using it for it's original purpose. They are money-whores.

You missed "Extinguish".

They can't split OS and apps, because the only reason Office can work so well is because the OS can code bug fixes and enhancements for them faster and better than they can code around the OS.

Romney is fascist, not communist.

Yes. One important thing missing: "barriers to entry". Chiefly, cash.

That's why cell phone contract terms are so similar. A few large companies, with a large barrier to entry, no longer really compete on price or even making customers happy [cramming, customer service, long contracts with customer-hostile terms]. Sure there are some small cell companies, but they really have no chance at gaining significant market share.

Gasoline distributors. Same deal.

In cases like these, with just a few large companies and a significant barrier to entry, like infrastructure, they know that everybody makes the most money by setting similar, high prices.

Why can't the news just focus on firemen getting cats out of tree's like they are supposed to?

You would think more people would listen after 20+ years.

There also the significant downside in that all your light switches become useless because you have to leave them all on, all the time.