The Jetta is just the sedan version of the Golf, same chassis, same engine, doors, etc. They've forked a bit more since 2006, but still share a lot of parts. The Fiesta is also just a rebadged Mazda demio (world car of the year 2008), which will be sold in north America starting with model year 2011 as the mazda2. The car I'd really like to see here though is the vw polo (world car of the year 2009) blue motion. I'd pick one up in a second if they were available.

I agree. 70 mpg is impressive. However, this highlights the distortion associated with quoting range (mpg, km/l) rather than the inverse, consumption (l/100km, g/100mi). Most people have a fixed distance requirement (e.g. to work and back, grocery store and back), so getting 70 mpg doesn't mean you're going to drive twice as far if you only got 35 mpg.

Converting to l/100km, 70mpg = 3.36l/100km, and 35mpg = 6.72l/100km, a difference of 3.36l/100km. On the other end, going from 6.72l/100km to 10.08l/100km is 23.3mpg. So while a 35mpg improvement from 35 to 70 would save you 3.36l over the trip, an 11.7mpg improvement from 23.3 to 35 would save you the same 3.36l. Going from 70mpg to 140mpg saves you just half that, 1.68l. Someone going from 15mpg to just 20mpg saves 3.92l over that trip!

I recently switched from a 30mpg Honda Accord to a 45mpg VW Golf TDI, but if I took the next step to a 60mpg hybrid, I'd only be saving half the amount in fuel (less actually, since diesel is about 5-10% cheaper where I am at the moment). While it's great to highlight the likes of the Prius, Civic Hybrid, etc., you really need to focus on the elephants in the room, those in the under 25mpg range that could easily switch to something close to 35mpg without having to pay the hybrid/electric/diesel premium.

If you think you can get by just fine on just a quad-core, then you're not the target market. Simple as that. I get by just fine on my entry level MacMini. There won't be a huge volume of sales of the 12 core systems, but there exists a market (however relatively small) that needs every bit of computing power they can get. They're also the ones willing to invest in the software architechture to get the most out of the hardware.

I'm right there with you, except I actually own one. I'm a 28 y/o with a Master's in Electrical Engineering and a decent job, which makes me a wealthy, well-educated, power-hungry, over-achieving, sophisticated, almost 30 year old young man interested in business, finance, videogames, computers, electronics, science and the internet who uses Facebook... Basically, wait until those independent geeks grow up a little bit and can afford some nice toys. It's a luxury appliance. Sure, it has some limitations, but for what it's meant for, it does it incredibly well. Your average kid in the basement doesn't need one, nor can they justify the cost. Maybe they'll pounce on a slate/eeePad/gPad if they come out a few hundred bucks cheaper later this year/decade/century. Those of us that don't mind paying the early adopter tax are happily enjoying ours.

Low overhead, my boy - we pass the savings on to you!

Ok, forget the legal aspects of this being an obvious rip-off of the Wiimote. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how anyone would use the motion function on this thing when the screen is ON what you are moving. I mean seriously, it would be like having to pick up your laptop up off your desk and lift it up and to the left if you wanted to move your mouse to the file menu. Not only is your pointer moving on the screen, but your whole point of reference is also moving. It's easy to focus on a tv or computer screen because it is STATIONARY. Say you have to tilt it forward to move the pointer up. Well, now your screen is tilted away from you and you can't see it. I mean, when they come up with these cheap knock-off toys, do they just go straight from some marketing guys head straight into production? Surely someone out there would at least try to use it once and realize how stupid this is. I guess the idea is, is that it doesn't actually have to be functional to sell, it just has to look like a Wiimote, yeah, make it white with a d-pad on it and you can hold it in your hand. Brilliant.