Even funnier, It's not a feature i'd use.

Bought my nexus one without a contract, installed a modded os (Cyangoen) and installed a great deal of useful apps.

Documentation on how to flash your device so it doesn't end up bricked can easily be found and it's instructions are very clear. It does not take an an overly technical person to do this. I don't think it has a higher rate of being bricked than any other hardware being flashed.

Apps are what you make of them. The applications I find useful I install and keep. Even if we use your somewhat "99% percent garbage apps too" estimate that still leaves me with 1% of apps that might be of value. I'm not sure why I'm replying to your post other than to say it seems like you really don't like the android platform. I can't help but wonder did you by chance brick one of your android phones? :-)

I think the average slahdotter living in his basement would have no problem choking something of the size of a small rodent...

I tried to resist but it was just too easy. I feel like I should also state I live in a basement, post on slashdot and have a girlfriend... ;-)

S.

I had some mod points but i'll waive using them to tell this funny story:

I worked at a head office for a large oil and gas company in their call centre. One day a net send message popped up on all the computer screens in the office: (I've changed the wording to protect the guilty) "I'm XXX and I like licorice".

I laughed to myself, clicked ok to the message and then suddenly the phones began to ring off the hook. The amount of callers waiting on hold kept increasing to unimaginable numbers. A few minutes later one of our second level guys walked in and we asked him to sit down and help us with the call volumes due to some idiot who had sent a net send message to the complete company (50 floors of employee's).

The guy turned completly red sat down and started taking calls after calls. It was then that we immediately knew who the guilty party was. He wanted to send a net send message to one of the other tech guys in the building but had sent it to the whole domain instead.

Needless to say he was known as the licorice guy from there on out.

I've always wondered if he stopped using net send....

Some1too

You guys deserve it! Hopefully now you'll continue to be cash flow positive for years to come. Cheers, Some1too

I can't say that enough! As an older person who was returning to university your mathematics and physics exercises and videos were a life saver! I truly appreciate all the hard work and effort you've put into your educational materials (website, videos, lessons etc). They helped me immensely and I don't doubt for a second they will continue to do so when I finally begin my full time studies in September. It's people such as yourself that really help make a positive difference in our world. You're inspirational, thank you and keep up the excellent work. One last time: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Some1too.

Seriously, I'm in awe of these pictures and how much is out there. Between these and the new hubble images, it really drives home two things:

1) I miss living in the country. The night skies on clear nights were awesome. 2) I regret that I will not live long enough to see faster then light travel. Perhaps my son will see it.

I certainly hope that my children will get the chance to travel our of orbit. I'm still holding out that i'll step foot on the moon or another planet before I leave this beautiful blue marble. (A man's gotta have his dreams right?)

On a serious note faster than light travel by the next generation? We can always dream....

Not sure how you're defining a big flop. Just by having google and android hand in hand the branding is getting out there. HTC devices are now known to be reliable by the consumer. For the record I own one and bought it new with an extra battery (you can't go wrong for 25$). I bought it when it was still unavailable in my country of origin. I don't use a dataplan but connect via wifi. I'd rather know the cost of my device upfront and have the ability to change carriers whenever I feel like it rather than being locked into one carrier for two to three years. Until our carriers monthly service plans fall to a resonable monthly cost (under 30$ a month) i will not support them any more than I need to. Android, HTC, google, the open source movement and the consumer are all winning with this thing. Not really understanding how this is a loss or flop. S.

... crack it open and you can remove the wireless card and replace it with your own ... the wireless card had been glued to the router board ... I ended up using a pair of scissors to pry them apart and I thought for certain I had ruined either the card or the router board. God I love slashdot.... always the best advice!

On a serious note I tried to remove the card in every which way I could think of and it wouldn't budge. I couldn't tell that it was held in place with the sponge and glue (it wasn't visible). I don't know if that's a common practice in devices like these because it was the first time I opened one up. I thought someone might find the information helpful if they were thinking about opening theirs. (I was fully aware of the possible consequences.).

On a side note; It's also a good idea to loosen up and have a few beers before trying the famous hardware removal by scissors technique. It's as extreme as extreme ironing btw. S.

I'm very happy with the unit for the following reasons:

1) crack it open and you can remove the wireless card and replace it with your own.

2) will run with openwrt

3) I'm shocked at the amount of abuse mine took. The wireless card had been glued to the router board using some kind of foam. I think the combination of the glue used and the heat from the device made it stick together strongly. I ended up using a pair of scissors to pry them apart and I thought for certain I had ruined either the card of the router board. Much to my surprise when I unbent the clips for the card it started working fine (I was prepared to trash the router in order to try and get the card out).

4) I've flashed the unit several times between the stock and various other images. The thing always comes back from the dead if you take your time and understand what you're doing. I guess it's firmware has some issue in how it addresses the interfaces which causes a conflict when trying to run something like FON (or so I'm told. Not certain how this applies if you're running openwrt). I bought mine a few years ago now when the N standard wasn't on a lot of hardware at the time. I haven't tested it's functionality in that regard.

I'm planning on buying a decent Atheros based card for it and use it in Sept. Hope this was helpful in some way.

Cheers, S.