Living in Asia (Japan), I think I can say with some accuracy that it doesn't really help you escape, it just gives them something to blame your oddness on. It doesn't help you to be more attractive (although the automatic street cred of being an "exotic foreigner" can). Now your visual cues are even more off-track, which gives you a longer row to hoe. For instance: Westerners tend to frown more frequently (to show you're considering something seriously, for example), which may make them think you're angry. Comfort zones vary in size, which may make people think you're either stand-offish or too aggressive, depending on the local variable. Finally, in Japan, for example, you have to nod to show you're listening attentively; go with the Western norm of not nodding at all and they'll think you're bored or not paying attention.

I agree. Not to mention that a fully interactive environment misses the point - it's not the end-all-and-be-all of gaming, but rather the vehicle for a certain type of game. A game, just like any other form of narrative, needs to guide the player along a certain story line. There has to be a point. Just as the real universe has physical laws for a reason, so do games; having malleable worlds for the sake of "realism" is only a single aspect of gaming, not the ultimate evolution of gaming in its entirety.

I forgot to mention how full of crap I thought that Brian Chen article was the first time around I read it two years ago (of course, he's billed as an "analyst", so your BS filter should be firmly in place before reading). If you read the editor's note at the bottom, added a year after the article was published, you'll see that they basically say the original article's speculations were wrong. Having had Japanese feature phones for six years and an iPhone since it was released here, I can tell you that the article was BS from the get-go. There was about a six-month gap between me purchasing one and six of my friends getting on board, too. Working at a high school, I'd say that between 40%~50% of my students now carry one, too.

I live in Japan and everyone and their dog wants a smart phone (they recognize that smart phones are more advanced than TVs). The built-in TV fad is very five years ago, and at least for iPhone users, you can always buy a TV antenna adapter. For everyone else, there's Youtube, and people are cutting the cord right and left. For a group-based society like Japan and with the average work schedule that most people have, being able to share and view video on demand is very appealing.

Just check out the amazing lineup of smart phones from Docomo (http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/smart_phone/) and Softbank (http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/smartphone/product/). I think the trend is apparent.

If you're a big enough facility who needs to add another seat, I'm sure Apple will find a copy for you somewhere. I agree, though, I've suddenly put off my upgrade plans for a while.

If you're end the high-end market, however, you know that this particular scenario has played out time and time again, and not just with Apple. In the 3D arena, SGI, Softimage, and now Newtek have also had to do complete rethinks of their software and it took years for the aftershocks to fade out.

What amazes me is they actually label it "poop burger" (unko baagaa) on the white board (when he uses the lady-finger pointer).

A very interesting question, as the new method of distribution (electronic download vs. physical DVD) doesn't allow you to reboot in order to reset the password. Sure, the previous method was a horrible security flaw, anyway, but how are you supposed to reinstall the OS from scratch?

Although nothing beats hand-written code, as far as visual editors go nothing beats Dreamweaver. Despite its obvious flaws and tendency to create bloated pages, at least it makes a good effort at scripting and coding around browser limitations so that the user typically gets a usable result. If you're not being hired to be a web coder, there's no shame in using it.

Now just try to keep it from looking ugly. ;)

Seems like Steve saw Walt Disney's old video about the true vision of EPCOT and decided to make it happen.

He was in good form, despite looking poorly. The inane comments from the city council members couldn't have helped.

"Native" means "proprietary" and not dependent on the largess of the cell phone providers to realize (instead, it requires the largess of Apple, but they actually have a vested interest and, hey, they're making it free).

This will be like FaceTime, except useful, since I've never had the opportunity to use FaceTime even once.

Are you referring only to the central notification center, or the other six or so features that Android doesn't actually include?

Except that none of the others you just listed combine all of those features in a single OS, and on a smart phone to boot.

Your TV-buying experience is unfortunate, but look at your average iMac and you'll see a very impressive monitor with a built-in computer that won't suffer the same fate as your Samsung. Also, it's still a PC. Win-win.

Stop giving into the paranoia and get on with your lives. You're exposed to more radiation on a daily basis than you'll ever get from potentially contaminated food. Nuclear power plant meltdowns may be scary scary, but biological damage due to food contamination is so rare as to be statistically insignificant. If you want to protect your Japanese family, tell them to stop going to restaurants and other public places that allow smoking (which is not only harmful in all the known ways, but is also slightly radioactive).

Sounds like they did some hard-coding to the XOOM specs and will be making up for it later.

As for the embarrassment factor, Microsoft has been following the same policy for years and the world hasn't exploded yet. Not for lack of effort, mind you. ;)