Maybe ... it's got arms, so it might be able to drag itself up stairs.

I couldn't really tell the full range of motion on the legs, but it's possible for the wheels to fold up, and it could run around on is "knees and hands" over really unstable terrain.

Stuff like this will be the undoing of twitter.

New features will require a lot of coding, testing, promotion, and tweaking down the line. All of which costs money, which drives more advertisements, and eventually drives people away.

If they had just remained a simple, streamlined service to let people share pithy quips and unironic hashtags, they could easily pay their server costs with a few unobtrusive ads, and remain a relevant (if niche) product for a long time. As it stands, I'll be surprised if they survive another year or two.

Just have it start quiet and crescendo.

These jobs still need to get done though, ya? So someone needs to get paid to do it. If you can recruit little Timmy to do it on the cheap, good for you, but I don't think that's a viable option for Uber.

There is a use-case for locked down hardware in an automobile: self-driving vehicles.

As much as you should have the rights to tinker on the things you own (and you should) things get a lot trickier when we start talking about the software or sensors that actually control your vehicle as it drives down the road.

It's going to be a complex issue with a LOT of debate, so I won't pretend like I can solve it in a single post. Suffice to say, lets not dismiss the entire concept of non-user-serviceable vehicles, in the long term. (though one thing I will say, that fact would have to be fully disclosed at time of purchase)

Just because a few people can circumvent someone else's shitty behavior does not make that behavior any less shitty.

The problem is simple: telemetry is guaranteed, other malware is not.

Would you choose to be sick with a cold every single day of your life, if it meant never getting the flu?

Sure, the flu is a lot worse than a cold, but you can take steps to prevent it, and even if you do get hit with the flu, it's temporary.

The fact that it's not trying to compete with PS/Xbox in the horsepower category is a good thing. Any halfway-decent PC is going to trounce them all anyway, so they're all struggling and scraping for 2nd place at best, meanwhile sacrificing things like fun and playability. I would much rather have a console that plays sprite games at 60fps 1080p, instead of one that tries to render photo-realistic images and struggles to reach even 30fps at 720p, because cheap graphics tend to leave more room in the budget for innovative gameplay, interesting mechanics, and general fun, instead of blowing the entire wad on the aforementioned graphics, only to be left with another samey cover-based-shooter clone.

Of note: I'm not 10 either. I'm in my mid 30s. I grew up playing games like Mario and FF3 (6). Hence my inclinations towards good gameplay over good graphics. I could totally see Locke wink and waggling a disappointed finger, even if it was just a single pixel moving back and forth. I don't need every pore and fingerprint rendered for me. (fun fact: the entire Super Mario Brothers game took less space than a single JPG screenshot of that game today.)

Also, the Wii wasn't just amazing popular with Pre-teens. It was popular with EVERYONE. My grandpa's 55+ community had one in their clubhouse; it still gets used to this day. We actually dusted off the old Wii just a few weeks ago for New Years: Mario Party, MonkeyBall and Wii Sports until the ball dropped, with four generations ranging from ages 6 to 86, all having a blast. Nintendo focused on simple FUN, and absolutely destroyed the much more powerful competition of the time.

It's exactly like a 3DS, except without 3D, and doesn't fold in half, and has removable controllers, and supports couch multiplayer, and ... well they both play games, so there's that.

It does kind of resemble a tablet, except it's a tablet with actual joystick and button input, instead of touch screen garbage. And honestly, that alone sounds like everything I've ever wanted from a tablet.

There's a company in San Diego called Webpass. For years they've done "urban" fiber: strictly the heart of downtown, full of apartments, condos, etc. Anywhere that they can set up one switch closet for dozens of customers.

They were purchased by Google recently. I had hoped this would mean expansion into residential business, but not yet.

When will MS just up and admit that they aren't in the business of desktop computer software anymore?

Windows 10 is just an XBox with a keyboard and mouse. You have the same amount of control over the OS (basically none) and they're used for the same purpose (playing games and watching TV)

Any of the last several generations of Intel CPUs can run any modern application just fun. Up to and including top-end gaming.

There is no incentive to innovate, so there is no innovation. Desktop CPUs will remain in a holding pattern until something happens to force their hand.

The failure of the WiiU was entirely in marketing.

The console itself is plenty powerful, and the tablet opens up a slew of interesting multiplayer possibilities. Just play their tech demo (Nintendoland) to see what could have been. There was genuine innovation there.

But Nintendo didn't explain anything to the consumer. Their marketing strategy was ass. Nonexistent ass. No one knew if it was an expansion to the Wii, or its own console, or is the tablet the console, or wtf is this thing. Once it got off to a shaky start, developers started to balk. Even Nintendo themselves held off Zelda, only further ensuring the demise of WiiU. That's why the first commercial for Switch went to great lengths in explaining everything. You know exactly what the switch is and what it does. Every capability was shown in detail, so there is no confusion.

I do agree though, that it feels like a bit of a retreat. It's definitely more handheld that console, but I hope it's a temporary step back. They can get comfortable, get more 3rd party developers back onboard, and try something really wild again in the next cycle.