Well, I put it in quotation marks because I was using it in the sense that I think the parent was using it -- I agree it's too broad a term to really be of use.

I agree with your point -- to an extent. Most of the tasks you list would be greatly helped if a keyboard and mouse could be used in conjunction with the touch screen with a suitably designed OS.

With regards to the hot air problem.... some see that as a feature. I prefer using my dell laptop instead of my GF's macbook pro, since the macbook's aluminium chassis and good power management make for a lap mounted heat sink, while my dell with it's plastic body and innovative combined CPU/heater make for a cosy lap heater (it's winter here). If only the dell came with a 50-cell battery so you could use it unplugged from the wall...

The problem is that there isn't enough money to be made in making products for people who know what they want..... Too small a market. The real money is made selling things to people who can be TOLD what they want.

I think he explained that fairly clearly.... At least, if it is designed for 'creating things', it isn't designed very well! If it had been designed to 'create things' it would have lost much of it's appeal to those who don't want it to create things, by requiring a larger screen, keyboard, more ports, better specs (==higher power consumption) etc.

The products that could really compete IMO are ones that are not just copies. A good example is the Lenovo Ideapad tablet. It isn't the same as an iPad, it's more of a cross between an iPad and a netbook. One of the great things about it IMO is that it switches to a special touch OS when you fold it up as a touch screen device, and back to windows when you open out the keyboard -- I think this solves one of the major drawbacks of other tablet PCs.

It is a bit larger than the iPad at 10", but still very compact. To people who like the idea of an iPad, but can't quite justify buying a device that doesn't have a keyboard etc. it could be quite attractive.

I've also been using KDE with PA since then, and up until recently I hadn't had any problems either. However, since installing Kubuntu 10.04 on my laptop recently I have been having no end of trouble with audio. PA does seem to have been working in most cases, but there are (have been?) issues, so I don't think the parent's comment was a troll at all...

Diein' ain't much of a livin' boy...

Yep, there is simply no substitute for tactile feedback when it comes to a good UI. Touch-screens are great -- in ADDITION to buttons, not instead of.

Touch screens are fine if all you want to do with a device is browse the internet etc. As soon as you want to type or control a phone or media device they fail miserably. The lack of tactile feedback prevents fast typing, and means you cannot control a device (like change music tracks or reply to a text message) without looking at it. That's a pretty fundamental problem IMO.

I'm all for touch screens, but most devices will always need good old buttons as well. If the industry ignores this, we'll end up with a whole lot of devices with less functionality than current ones.

Yes, but mass extinction-causing asteroids don't happen at regular intervals. There could be one coming in 20 years or 200 million years, we don't know. We may spot such an asteroid a few decades in advance, but would we be able to do anything about it in that amount of time? I'd say that would be a resounding "Maybe.....".

Well said. I think the only solution is to genetically engineer a perfect dictator, with no ambition or emotion etc.

So now you're covering your windows too... Surely in that case you may as well just live in a concrete bunker? I don't see the point in making your house secure at the expense of your own comfort.

I've always thought a baboon would be good.

Bars on windows will have the same effect of attracting thieves as you state monitoring systems will. Plus who would want to live in a house with barred windows? May as well just go to jail.

If someone really wants to get in to your house, they will find a way.

It's sad that so many people share your views on DIY these days. A reasonably intelligent person is perfectly capable of doing almost anything for him/herself to a high standard with a little patience and humility. It's not the easiest, fastest, and often not the cheapest way to do something, but it is almost always the most satisfying way.