Why on earth would they sell that off? Makes absolutely no sense. This type of reporting is totally and utterly a pile of crap. Must be a slow news day and this guy has an article quota to keep.

I can understand how some of the idealists are upset.. But frankly I could care less.. I've bought a few humble bundles now and the main reason is because a portion of the proceeds (or all if you wish) goes to charity. I also like this pay what you can type model. Quite honestly I haven't played many of the games but if they look semi interesting i'll by them on the off chance I will.

This deal seems to be the best value yet, so I paid more than I normally would.

This is exactly why Google+ has a feature called circles. Given the audience here i'm sure I don't have to go into details.

Unfortunately tho, Google+ hasn't really caught on outside some specific groups such as photographers. As well, while the tech savvy have no issues migrating to yet another social network, the problem is your not going to get most of your 'friends' and family to do so. I'm lucky my mom is on facebook, let alone trying to get her to move to Google+.

Since I live away from most of my family I use facebook to upload pictures of the kids, keep in touch etc. So as long as even a few of them stay on facebook then i'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

So given that, I basically treat facebook as a public bulletin board. I don't say or post anything there that I would be ashamed of saying in front of my mom or boss.

Who plays the same game for 5-6 years? How is having a game for a console any different than an Xbox? If your kids were PC gaming 5-6 years ago chances are you'd still have a ton of games on the shelf. Unless they've been stuck on WoW and only had to buy a few expansions.

Any game after about 2 years is basically worthless. You'll get a couple of bucks trading it in. At least with a console you can easily trade in a game a few months after you bought it for a decent amount. I only keep certain games, like FPS, for a long period of time. Other games, where I don't enjoy the multiplayer or played for the story I trade or sell relatively quickly and get a decent price for them.

Personally I use my xbox for games and more. If I miss a tv show or my PVR acts up, I can download it and stream it to my xbox. You can use it for netflix, hulu, some cable companies have apps, youtube, crackle, etc. IMHO the xbox is well worth the price.

I grew up on Atari 2600 and Vic-20 games. Mobile platform games are light years ahead of those. Today I use mostly my xbox but have a few games on my phone for times i'm stuck in a line somewhere and bored.

I don't think you can predict what types of platforms people will use based on the games they play growing up.

We have quite a few iPads at work... Along with Playbooks, iPhones, Android Phones, BB's, etc.

Playbooks are sitting on shelves and never used... I took one home for my daughter after it was on the shelf for 6 months and she barely uses it. So thats saying something. I never see people in meetings with their playbooks.. I do see the scattered person with their ipad. However, the vast majority still come to meetings with their laptops, even tho they have iPads. Myself included. Most of us also have keyboards for them which in my opinion makes them usable for "creating content".

I use my iPad for when i'm sitting around the house and when i'm on call. Its lighter and easier to carry around than my laptop and has a great battery life. I also use it when i'm at a conference to take notes, look things up, etc for the same reasons. If I want to get any real work done tho, I use my laptop/desktop.

I honestly don't see the take up with mobile devices even tho in reality (as you've said) most people don't need a full computer.

Yes, I have a computer science degree. Maybe if Andrew Oliver went to university he would know that most of us are actually self-taught when it comes to programming. I believe I took 3 courses which taught programming and they were all first/second year. The rest of the courses were on software development, algorithms, graphics programming, etc, etc. The programming courses taught Pascal, PDP-11, etc. For the other courses you could program in any language you wanted. So if you wanted to program C/C++, Java, etc you had to teach yourself, which everyone did.

Now our local college on the other hand, did have a 2 year diploma specifically teaching programming.

Maybe he should learn how to perform an interview. Its not rocket science. Its very easy to tell in a few minutes (if you know what your doing) as to whether or not the applicant knows what they are talking about. Sure, sometimes one will slip by but that's what probationary periods are for.

Some games I play for the story, sometimes for the game play.

For example.. Call of Duty, I rarely play the story mode, just jump straight to multiplayer. However, Gears of War or Uncharted I play for the story. I don't think you generalize and say the focus should be entirely on gameplay.

Just because your sending an IM now, or a tweet, or a facebook group or something doesn't meant someone is sitting on the other end reading it. So how is that different than email? I know people who set their status invisible in IM's because it has gotten so annoying. I find IM's take much longer for me to understand what the person on the other end wants. Typical scenario:

coworker: Hi
Me: Hi
coworker: typing for seems like an eternity and I know as soon as I switch away that damn taskbar icon will start blinking. I wait, and wait, get annoyed, switch to a new window, blink blink blink!!

Its surprising in this day in age that most IT workers still can't type worth a damn.

For the record, I have never purchased an apple product with my own money. My iphone and ipad was provided by work. As for the ipad, a senior manager didn't want his so I was the lucky recipient and about the only non-manager in our group to have one.

All employee's have laptops instead of desktops now. That was a company initiative years ago and you really don't have a choice in the matter.

Geoffrey.Landis:
"What "20%" of my use of a computer am I going to have problems with if I switch to an iPad+keyboard for my portable?"

That 20% is going to be different for most people and depends on how you use a computer day to day. For me its bouncing between ssh sessions, most of our enterprise applications (which I support) won't work on an iPad. I find its great for short duration tasks such as an app server crashing, logging in to take a quick look, restart it, etc. Its great for bringing to meetings to look stuff up quick, meeting materials, etc. I brought it while on vacation last summer and had to login to work for a couple of hours. I could get the job done but it was much more time consuming to do on an ipad.

"Well, maybe because it weighs half as much and has three times the battery lifetime?"

Once you factor in a Zaggmate keyboard, they are pretty close in weight. I haven't used either an ipad or a air until they were drained to do a valid comparison of battery life.

  serviscope_minor:
"To be fair, a decent 13" laptop with a spare house brick would be easier to tote around than the average 17" laptop."

For sure, I had a Lenovo X200 with an extra battery. Loved it but unfortunately it wasn't fast enough and they replaced it with a T61.

To the Anonymous Coward's:

"Because he his a fucking hipster apple faggot thats why"

As I said, for the record, I have never purchased an apple product. I'm lucky enough to have work provide me with some nice toys. Other than the iPhone, I am not sure I would spend my own money on it. I get the sense your the jealous type who can't afford apple stuff.

"There are so many subnotebooks with ~1kg weights and built-in Ethernet, 3G and even DVD drives. The Air hype is just fanboy self-fellatio."

I'm sure there are.. Just as i'm sure management is just waiting for me to research it and provide them a recommendation. For one, thats not my job, its someone elses. For the uneducated, like yourself, there is much more than picking a piece of hardware and asking management to buy it for you. There are such a thing called support costs.

Just some background, I am an Oracle DBA who is oncall every second week. I used to carry around my laptop, power cable and iphone while I was on call. I managed to get my hands on an iPad and used it for light reading, email, etc. I tried to use it while on call but it was too painful. SSH on the thing is nice if your in a bind, but you don't want to be using it for an extended period of time. Just think about trying to use vi, yikes.

Anyways, I picked up a Zaggmate keyboard for it. I now carry it primarily while I am on call, much easier to tote around than my 17" laptop. Has a better battery life and 3g built in. I don't have to worry about draining my phone at the same time as my laptop.

However, if I am traveling I take both the laptop and ipad. While the ipad is good for short periods of work, it is still painful for long periods. And its also not suited for alot of tasks, which you don't realize until you actually try to do them.

So I would agree to a point that 80% of work can be done on an iPad but its that other 20% that kills you. I could also walk to work but that would take an extra 2 hours each way than using my car.

The macbook air is light, small, easy to carry around. I am not sure why you would use an iPad over it. I've heard quite a few people say the opposite as the guy in the article. Once they bought air's they barely used their ipads. Once you factor in the cost of the keyboard, ipad, your almost at an air anyways.

I second this one, the camera you have with you is the best one. Its very true, you never know when that "moment" is going to happen.. My iphone 4s takes great pictures outdoors.. Low light and indoors aren't the greatest but what do you expect from an LED flash and pinhole lens.

I have too many cameras. A canon rebel Xsi with a number of lenses, a Canon S3, my wife has a small Canon ELPH or whatever they are called. I have 2 waterproof cameras.

So it depends on what I want to take a picture of. If I know I am going out to take pictures, say a birthday party or the local tulip festival, I bring my Rebel. If I am going to a concert I bring my S3 because it has a long zoom and isn't considered a professional camera (ie detachable lense) so they let me bring it in. My wife's small Canon ELPH I bring with me when I know I may be somewhere I want to take pictures but not entirely sure or where I don't want to lug around a big camera.. ie, the local museum i've been too a dozen times before.

The trade between point and shoot and a DSLR really comes down to recycle time, focusing, low light and changing lenses. Point and shoot are good for quick decent shots.

So which camera you are interested in really comes down to what you want to do with it. You mention family, friends, etc but thats pretty vague. Say you have kids, and you want to take pictures of them playing sports, then your probably going to want a DSLR. You can get away with a point and shoot but your not going to be happy with it. If they are in alot of school plays your going to want to find one with a good zoom and low light conditions.

You sound like your going to be a casual user, not looking to use any advance features such as setting the shutter speed, aperture, etc.. so I would go with a small point and shoot with a decent zoom just in case.

So Canon - PowerShot SX230HS, or a NIKON - Coolpix S8200.. You can get them on sale now for around 200$. Go to the store, see how it feels in your hands, if it feels "too big", ie that you won't take it with you, then go with something smaller like a Canon - PowerShot ELPH 300 HS.

If you stick with a name brand like Canon or Nikon in the 150-300$ range then you'll be happy with the pictures.

I am not a fan of roundabouts replacing lights but in my area 2 of them replaced 4 way stops. I hate 4/3 way stops with a passion, unless its a school/park zone where you want to force people to slow down.

I have to say tho, they have worked out really well. I have seen some close calls and thats mainly caused by people not yielding as they enter the roundabout trying to push it and squeeze in. Hasn't been too much of a problem for me since I bought my Dodge Ram truck tho.

It all depends on how you use the tablet but for me I use it the 10hrs a week i'm sitting at a soccer practice, swimming pool, the wife is shopping, doctors office, dentists, etc. None of those locations have a WiFi point. Honestly, other than reading a book or video you've already downloaded, I have no idea what people do with a tablet and no internet access.

I have a 3G iPad and for about 3 weeks my data plan was messed up and not working. It sat on the table and I barely used it. If i'm at home, yes I have WiFi but I also have 4 laptops in the house and my desktop. If i'm at work, yes I have WiFi but I also have a desktop with 2 screens and my laptop. I have a tablet for while i'm on the go and don't want to cart around my laptop. Now that more and more services are in the cloud you need a device thats connected. Thats my opinion anyways.

The only way I would not buy a 3G tablet is if I had a smartphone which I could tether it to.

Who gets mad when IT doesn't jump at his request.. Just maybe your IT department has other priorities? I see it on a daily basis... For whatever reason some people think the IT department is just playing solitaire waiting for their phone call. Just like you, we have priorities dictated to us from management. Follow the proper process and put a request in for a new calendaring application. If you have a sound business case, then it will get approved, prioritized, etc.. For all they know, your app is only used by you and your buddy to schedule poker nights.

Who is going to support this application? You? Or are you going to expect IT to do it? Who's going to support it while your on vacation/sick? Who's going to maintain the server, apply security patch updates, upgrading, backup and recovery, etc? Is the server in a proper location or is it under your desk? Does the cleaning lady unplug it so she can vacuum? (Seen this one happen, don't laugh..)

You know, setting up and configuring an application, especially if there are no customizations, is the easy part. The expensive part, which no one talks about is the lights on maintenance. Its funny how everything thinks they are an IT expert cause they have a computer at home. I wonder what would happen if I spent an evening reading Teach yourself Radiology in 24hrs book and took a stroll over to that department.