My desktop has enormous storage options. So, no. I would not really use SD cards for storage there .

Now, unless you have a 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch slot, or other option on the phone, Yes, SD card storage is good.

Because some people like their own storage, and don't actually like the cloud storage game. Not for everyone I am sure.

Absolutely. Why isn't there someone doing a device with more than one?
The biggest hole in all current 'fashion' devices is storage.

Is that what was presented was nice, but contained nothing that was really wow in any way. As such its a premium phone/tablet and there is convincing to be done.

Would I really pay double for this phone - if so.. why? I honestly did not see anything really ahead of the curve despite Mr Shuttleworth trying to intimate that the phone handset market is conservative (it used to be, I am less than sure that HTC ones and Samsung Galaxy 4's are such .. the hand sets seem to be racing along tech wise from where I sit..)

Nokia had the opportunity to examine the OS up close I am sure before putting all their eggs in the basket. Saying now that the OS isn't what they wanted is different from Symbian how?

And they dumped Symbian.

Nokia isn't very innovative. I have hosts of their phones. And I have their earlier tablets. Molasses moves faster, and any development or updating was based around an old school of update slow, if at all, and avoid anything dramatic. Riddled by 'buy the next handset' if you want more - no company wrote off their newer stuff faster.

The N900 (with an updated screen) could have been the basis for an ongoing linux based phone - but not at molassess snail rate development. Nokia understand how to make hardware. The part they have utterly failed to grasp is that in the end, its the software that runs on the tin that actually ends up mattering much more than they believed it did.

Android and Iphone have brutally changed the old landscape. The older school mentality has no place left, and they will be evolved out. Throwing huge gasps of air (41MP cameras) grafted onto Phones with systems people don't want won't stop the drowning end.

Nokie still ship a lot of low end phones - That in the end might be there best market placement

By talk, obviiously, that ends up more 'argue'.

During the 'talk' it became apparent that Sinofsky quite believed that I no longer needed a file manager, and that it was OK to both break my current work mode, and provide a new broken work mode, and provide a windows machine that would not run windows software, nor would it be able to be added to a domain. I mean, what can be better than if I create local users I have to work through two UIs and process methods to do what happened under local users previously.

Its quite compounded when you even now try to have conversations.
"I run engineering for the core group in the os division. Let’s talk about the things you have issues with. Winrt & domain join is the big one, right? Usability for desktop users – I am guessing on non touch machines is the second. I am happy to talk about either of these."

I've turned that 'offer' down now - because quite frankly there comes a time when a vendor *actually* needs to be listening and stop talking. And 'I am happy to talk about either of these' is in the end insane. Noboady at MS should be 'happy' to talk about these. When they start being as 'unhappy' as I am and they start to actually get a clue, then I may start talking.

I think it was fairly clear to anyone sensible that RT (The system and the API), Surface, and Notro and other aspects were wrong, still are wrong, and are not going to stop being wrong because someone in marketing things they can be made 'right'.

I will admit a perverse pleasure in some basic historically proven events. Sinofsky being fired. Deserved for attitude alone, but partially a shame as he can deliver something - that somthing has to be right however. And seeing his utter failing in both 8 and with Surface after he spent so much time bullshitting about 'how great they are'.

98% of windows stuff happens on the real windows systems. Even in 8, that translates back to people running desktop and installing back a start menu, and running their standard legacy software.

I've tested 8.1 and the fundamentals remain utterly broken. The window dressing of 'fixing' what was wrong isn't whats required to fix the problems.

Why not tolerate it?

Let me put a few things in argument.

Regarding 1. The human race long terms needs to lower at least part of the populace to be birth rate lower than replacement. Yes. It does. And as the population keeps climbing, the sooner this happens, the better. I'll add another angle. Maybe its meant to happen. Maybe the brutal fact is that as humans evolve, and as our resources dwindle, maybe this is inate that our species has self limiting procreation. If not, we are looking at lemmings off a cliff population collapse in the long term. In the short or medium term, America to cite your example is upward trending population. Off setting that is an important query that has to be answered.

Regarding 2. No, new diseases would be a by-product of life. Blaming a grouping or culture specifically won't stop diseases and the evolution of disease, bacteria, or viruses. And if we're really going to talk about this - the church can always cease its claims in Africa - which are an absolute lie - that condoms cause AIDS.

Regarding 3. No, I don't think so. Its much more likely to be a settled social structure at peace with itself, unless someone is going to go outside the social norms and start being violent against a grouping who frankly only wish to live free lives.

And yes, the Koran and Bible are full of hate speech, and the groupings that bash the books and want to get out of hand about it need to be firmly reminded, no, put firmly in place that in the west, we removed the teeth from religion and became free and secular in spite of both, and with help from neither. Fundamentalist religion poses far greater problems than people who want to enjoy the freedom and liberty our society promotes and generally moves toward, and which religions in the form of the Islam and Christian faith frequently seem to spend extreme efforts to meddle against.

Why exactly?

Its an amusing side track that a reality that exists is that putting aside political and social background, one things stands forth. The groupings of people who want to grab the flag on 'fairness' and on 'equality' and on 'expression' only apply it to their own values. Thats always been the case, but it gets lost that the world and universe is not based upon one group of singluar values. Always the first to make the pleading for society to grant tolerance, yet seemingly very swift in seeking its removal.

Thus, Orson Scott Card should be denied a living, he should be outcast, he should be shown no tolerance. This is kind of the start of how things go badly. A section gets denigrated, then they need to be punished, next they need to be imprisoned.

I see this from the liberal left, and from the socialist left, and as another example from the islamic fundamental movement. Having been able to use and express themselves using the medium of openness, freedom, free expression, and via democratisation and persuasion and by demonstration in the free society that was created by the people they hate (no offense, but the hard working, married man and women and democracies where racism and real world challenges on civil rights were a battleground) - Now, the answer in this society is to become intolerant of a grouping and to start the vilification based upon the fact they hold different opinions and do not share the fanatical views of those now publicly stating that this is how it should go.

I think as much as a person should be able to campaign for gay rights, a person should be able to hold an opposing viewpoint. They may be wrong, but in a democracy people are supposed to have the freedom to do so. And the same applies to gay marriage. In either case, at the end, hopefully an educated and enlighted people will make forward steps (and in general I believe that is the case) as people moderate and understand over time.

People are conditioned by their surroundings. Expecting people who have been conditioned from birth to drop everything and just agree with someone else isn't viable. Frankly - replacing democracy with political correctness where people are commencing thought crimes and onto where they get criminalised isn't tolerant, isn't democratic, and isn't good.

That the Apple that compartmentalised the hardware under Jobs - so members of the team did not know what they were actually building, for whom, and why?
That Apple?

a software company. Was always going to be difficult. Seems to me they should perhaps have split into a new division - not kept it under the same roof/structure

I'd argue, but when an asshole states that he thinks FGM is 'amusing' its only validating the fact that their input is worthless and that they are scum.

Since when do they only inflict their horrors on themselves?

The animals amongst them have a view that they must bring back the Califate, that women who don't cover themselves in a black head to toe tent should get an acid bath, or be raped, and that young girls who want to better themselves and want to go to school have a target on their back.

Is a walking sack of shit - when asked about FGM he declared 'that is between a mother and daughter'.

Such fucking animals are worthless.

Basically detest islam in the majority of its forms. But having looked at Egypt for a while, the level of abuse on women, organised or social rape, the deliberate and appalling levels of enforced FGM, and coming to a conclusion that as a people in a general sense, I feel only sorry for the victims, but generally regard most with a deep disdain.

As an aside, this looks to me to have civil war written all over it. But before that, an observation of my own on this. I have zero belief that Islam can fit into modern society. Into democracy. In secularism or into multiculturalism. I don't believe it deserves a seat at the table, nor do I think they actually want a seat unless it comes with all the usual preconditions and appalling islamic fundamentalism.

However, if a person like me - has a theory that I demand or expect islamics to adhere to modern standards, and to put aside some of their normal activities and behaviour and to fall into line and operate on a civil basis in society, take part in democracy, campaign for what they believe and if they can do so in the civil way, perhaps get a deserved place at the table of government - then things in Egypt don't provide any good news. And under normal circumstances I'd welcome the Muslim Brotherhood getting chewed up and spat out. But I can't have it both ways, even with my somewhat harsh line of thought. If they do put down the guns, and do put aside the bombs, and come to play a full part in the democratic processes, then what?

So, the context now is that they win an election (debate that as you see fit), and a number of months later, find the US supported and equipped Army deposes their chosen man and suspends the entire constitution. An awkward pause for me now occurs. If they get excluded and sidelined in this way, it seems to me that this is fuel in the tank for bad stuff. What is the point of elections now to Morsi and this brotherhood. Democracy by its nature has to be inclusive, even to forces or views I dislike. Thats almost the point.

In this instance, I find myself having a tiny amount of sympathy to bad people, whom I normally don't have any sympathy with, as there is an air of injustice and incorrectness about this. I detest Islam and its fundamentalism, BUT, if they put their guns and arms down and come to the table - something I may not like, but may well respect - then their part in it can't be cut off like this - at least thats a vague feeling I have. But I know that the Muslim Brotherhood are scum, and I know only idiots would vote for them. Bingo - look what happened. Idiots and then the MB got elected.

In the end tho, Its Egypt. Its a state where this is the picture across its society.
http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/unkindest-cut-13yearolds-death-shines-spotlight-on-rise-of-fgm-in-egypt-8657104.html

There is no escape. The men are involved. The women. The mothers. There are no innocents in this appalling crime against humanity, and against women in particular. And against the young girls, often under age, who are forcably held down and have their sexual organs butchered in full 7th century barbarism. The fact that the women are often involved in the infliction of this crime only erodes all respect. Despicable, and beyond contempt. It doesn't matter who gets into Government over such people. Its very hard for me to find sympathy for these fucking people. Their behaviour is worse than animals. Their choice of 'leadership' is a reflection of the people as a whole. Normally it is said that to correct fundamental problems - in a society, the advancement of women is critical. I have no problem with that, ... but these women.. there is a black hole here where an education and care for their own siblings should be.

The calls for 'freedom' or 'democracy' really become meaningless. Human rights? Yeah - as if anyone a citizen of such a place to dare utter the words to someone like me. The world should make Egypt an outcast for the FGM crimes. But little or nothing is said about this fucking horror. So for now, Egyptions are justs outcasts to me. I can say honestly, given the real world backdrop, I don't care about Egypt. I don't care how many die, I don't care how badly wrong it goes. Tommorow, next year, 5 years, families will still be taking their under age daughters to back street butchers and holding down their own fuicking children and mutilating them with utter barbarity. It is beyond my contempt. Fucking animals.

You are partly right and partly wrong.

People did tend to stretch the technet subscription. Certainly on for my part it ended up being rigged all the way at home, in VMs with a scratch infrastructure used for work and for fun. Microsoft and pretty much everyone else has twigged that whats happened is a slippage where I think I am not alone. Companies do not give me a test farm. As a tech, I think MS fund this out. My company found this out. I was either going to end up worse at what I do - Or do this.

But, and here is the elephant in the room *But*, I started more than 20 years ago. I started before all the DRM and ever deeper licensing and chasing down every dollar. I started before MS thought is was smart to have 9 versions. I have seen what the loss leader of allowing home use for free actually translated into computers on the office floor as people triggered the wave that meant windows at home - windows at work.

So, that was the tide coming in. I guess the tide always has to shift. So, the home user got targetted as 'pirate' - so between being made the enemy and crapping over them with worse versions and less features, less features, and less features, and them finding the competition (Hi iOS, Android, *nix, OSX) Microsoft have been on the path of eradicating the crack investment first pack free loss leader. You can add in shipping Win8hate - which only tiny minorites even accept, and demand every corner of the ecosystem use (er no..) and then just to cap it off - why not withdraw Technet. Having blown away the loss leader that brought in the kids, Joe Sixpack and the wife, now its time to chew on some tech and admin bones. You can only chew on your roots up to a point, then the plant dies.

Slashdot should actually be happy. MS used to be a company that seemed to wholly understand how to build marketshare, to build the monopoly. iOS and OSX upgrades cost what? £20 or less? Android is free(ish). *Unix has lots of choices. The dev stacks for these exist and are largely in place.

When the OS has rotted, there becomes a growing crisis where the reason for the windows ecosystem rots as well. If you don't run Windows, you don't need sharepoint. You won't need Exchange. You'll be able to change DBs.

Azure? What would anyone need Azure for?

I'm watching the world slowly walk away, and the Board is like Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Oh, I know. They have other cities they are building. But Rome is Rome. And when Rome fell, that was the end.