Do you encrypt your home phone conversations? Do you encrypt you SMS text messages? Are your Facebook messages encrypted? Do people use email still?

So here's the general question. Why would I go through the trouble of encrypting a mail to my wife asking her, "Do I need to pickup milk?" The problem with PGP is that it requires the users to do something that normal users (non-techies) have no idea why and how to do it. For secure communications between companies that need to ensure their communications is private, securing communications between servers is usually good enough: http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/smtp/securing-smtp-email-traffic

Job security!

Right...because "40 people that actually know what they are doing" will want to work for the government.

I cancelled my cable subscription 10 years ago, and have never reconsidered. The TV I own, is really just a big monitor for displaying content from my computer and AppleTV box (the latter being quite rare too.) The cable subscription model is what is broken because at least in Canada:
1 - I would have to pay for basic content that I do not want
2 - Most premium channels are only available as a subscription bundled with other channels I don't want
3 - There are really only three or so shows per season I actually have time to watch. Why do I have to pay for the rest of the garbage?
4 - I want to pay for the content. I don't want the advertisements, or the restrictions. I would rather and do actually pay for the DVD box set or even the iTunes subscription to content.
5 - I want my money to go to those who produced and made the show, I don't care about the distribution system. I don't care about the broadcaster or the cable company. Why anyone would want any dollar to go to them beats the hell out of me.

I love watching movies by the way and have no problems paying for the experience. I also stopped going to movies, because the theatre experience sucks. I didn't pay a sizeable sum to be: ripped off for crappy food/beverages, to watch 30 minutes of advertisements, to be reminded again and again about anti-piracy.

Could corporations stop screwing their customers?

People, I am amazed that when Apple makes a fumble on location services there is huge media attention on Apple "spying" on people. Where is the noise on Carrier IQ? A real root kit installed on all devices (not confirmed on iOS though) http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/rootkit-brouhaha/

Quit hating on the playa, hate the game.

It is the system that is broken, not the fact that organizations use the system for their commercial gain.

Terrorists no longer need to use violence: they just need to stir the pot by funding trade unions and Christian extremist groups. Hey wait a second...

There are plenty of programmers offshore waiting for such an opportunity.

The argument for this is a crock. There are plenty of ways to make this work for IT, but at the end of the day please please please don't pretend that it's the employee that wants this. Most employees come to work wanting all the tools they need provided to them. In Germany, this is the law in fact. At the end of the day, business is trying to save another buck and wants to offload it to their employees. And for big business trying to save another buck, you really want your employees spending time troubleshooting issues on their own PCs rather than doing their jobs?

I don't think you brother's painters fork $2000 for enough paint brushes for three years all in one go.

Funny how North Americans are fine with selling their soul to get a discount on their mobile phones by locking into a contract and having their phones SIM-locked...yet all this noise about the iPad and it's "closed" ecosystem.

What a horrid example! Would you replace a Ferrari's brakes with some Ford parts? Is Ferrari exploiting these fools (amazing how much fools can afford nowadays) because they can't take it into "Joe's Autogarage"? I mean car parts are car parts aren't they? There is no reason why Ferrari can't standardize on all parts that are more commonly on the market.

There is no swiss army knife people! If anything, techies should learn that there are different markets out there. Some people like "freedom" to tinker, others just want an appliance. I deal with IT all day at work. I want my stuff outside of work to just...well, work. I don't want to help people install, debug, and fix their Linux and Windows messes. If anything, I tell my non-techie friends to buy Apple stuff and to just use it and not mess with it. Works for them and works for me.

Just look at Windows drivers versus Mac drivers. I know with any Mac driver issues I go to Apple and tell them to fix them. I don't get a load of crap apps from vendors who think they know what I need, I can depend on Apple to sort out their driver issues. Windows?? Good luck. Freedom is for those who know what they are doing. Trust me, plenty of people don't know what they are doing.

Perhaps MS should finally grow some balls and ditch legacy code. Just do it. It's not about what the customer thinks they want, it's about progress. Do it like Jobs.