This map isn't much help when every major market I've ever lived in has effectively had a broadband duopoly of abusive phone provider vs. abusive cable provider.

I have to agree that Snow Leopard Server still doesn't deliver. I love the product and the pricing, but getting Open Directory setup right is a buggy process. And getting Address Book and Calendars to work is a mess, and also somewhat pointless since the Mail server is still pretty poor compared to Exchange or a Mac friendly alternative like Kerio.

<rant>What I just don't get is why neither Apple nor Microsoft can make a directory server that is as feature rich and works as well as Netware 5??? I mean, were there just some magical software gnomes at Novell with directory service pixie dust that is now lost forever? The more cynical take is that no one gives a shit because MS owns the business space so what they have is "good enough" and deal with it. And don't get me started on SBS. It's a steaming pile of hobbled services just waiting to crumble should one foolish person touch it's DNS settings. </rant>

Cool. I'd be very curious to hear about performance and reliability from someone who uses a Macbook Pro exclusively as a Windows 7 machine.

Are you running OS X or Windows(via Bootcamp) as your base OS?

I think you're stating something as fact when it's only speculation.

How has the support for vbscript macros been for you? Do you get document that use a lot of vbscript in them? I know from experience that regular files with vbscript built into them keeps a lot of companies tied into MS Office. Usually it's RFPs from vendors that have vbscript doing calculations. These must be used or you don't get the work.

I don't understand your first sentence at all, so I'll just ignore it. I also don't understand your usage of the term sideshow box, so I'll ignore that too for now.

To answer your snarky question, no I didn't forget that Apple made a deal and got a cash infusion from Microsoft. Are you really arguing that this is the same as Nokia's deal?? Did Apple scrap the Mac OS for Windows? Nope, which is why it's not the same thing at all. As I recall, MS was in a position where it behooved them to be magnanimous due to the whole anti-trust brouhaha that was going on at the time and Apple was truly desperate for cash.

In contrast, I don't think (though I could be wrong) that Nokia is metaphorically inches away from bankruptcy as Apple was, I don't think Nokia's getting any big investment from MS, and I don't think Microsoft is doing this out of magnanimity, but instead they're acting out of desperation which means Nokia should be wary.

My point was and is that you infer by the nature of your comment that you know a lot about Nokia's internal situation right now, and I don't see any reason to believe that inference.

How is he right about price pressure? Should I just take your word for it? You sound like Michael Dell talking about Apple before Apple's meteoric rise past Dell and many others who "knew" how things worked.

I don't think this affects Amazon or B&N at least as far as book sales. This is about subscriptions. You don't subscribe to a Kindle book.

If you're referring to Kindle book sales there's no subscription involved so Amazon isn't affected. Netflix would be a better example.

What part of my original comment did you find pessimistic?

From Apple's iBooks FAQ:

Can I copy my books onto other computers or devices?

Books downloaded from the iBookstore can be placed on up to five computers you own that you’ve authorized with your iTunes Store account. You can sync your books to all iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches you own.1 Audiobooks, PDF files, and ePub files you've added to iTunes will appear in Books under Library. To sync Books to your device, connect it to your computer using the cable it came with. In iTunes, select your device then click the Books tab. Choose the books you would like to read on your device then press Sync. Books will sync to iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch even if iBooks is not installed; to read synced books, download iBooks from the App Store.

Note: Samples downloaded from the iBookstore will not sync to your computer. They remain on your device and can be removed using iBooks. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4059

I make no claims on being an economist, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt as far as what is or isn't a principal tenant of capitalism.

While I do agree that there will be less planning ahead than their should be, figuring out the role of people/labor in the future is as important to those at the top as it is to those at the bottom. One need only look at Egypt to see what happens when the system gets too out of whack. I'm not saying the wealthy/power elite will get it right away, or even nearly as soon as they should, but I hope they do get it or our society will have an incredible mess on it's hands.

Mod parent up

I'm just going on the record as saying this is one of the seminal moments in human history and will be remembered as such in years to come.

The applications for Watson are huge. One "Watson" could handle taking the orders for hundreds if not thousands of McDonald's drive-thrus, perform many types of customer service roles in a phone or chat capacity, run kiosks at Lowe's telling you where items are located or what they're normally used for. There's probably tremendous opportunities in statistical/actuarial fields as well as tax accounting.

This is how the technology derived from Watson is going to make a difference. It's going to march us even further down the path of not human obsolescence, but labor obsolescence, a path humanity has been going down for some time. This is why it's important, because if "Watsons" start doing these jobs, it destroys one of the principal tenants of capitalism. Namely that people barter their useful labor with employers in exchange for pay. As this tenant becomes more and more false, society is going to have to take a long hard look at what role people play in it.