Well, like they say, "when all you have is a battery-powered drill from Home Depot, make lemons." Or something like that.

I don't have a horse in this race, but before everybody gets all excited and accusatory about which tech megacorp is gaming the marketing (oops, too late!), let's see those sales numbers. There's a *big* difference in a company selling tens of millions of units and running out of stock, and a company selling, I don't know, tens of thousands of units and running out. Apple and Samsung both sell millions of devices rapidly because they have demand for their excellent devices. The fact is, there has simply not been that demand for Microsoft's devices (Kin, WP7, WP8, Surface). So again, it would be interesting to see what the actual sales numbers are.

I've been in the industry long enough to realize that when a company says "This was a proof of concept, we aren't going after big sales figures" that that actually means they are disappointed with sales. But again, hearing actual sales numbers would be interesting.

Lay off the 'roids, brah. You seem a little tense.

The Kin was a neat, small device, but I think what killed it was their marketing. The theme was "small, concealable cell phone for stalkers" as the commercials showed some languished dude following and snapping pictures of ... His ex? His annoyed current-SO? A total stranger? Whoever she is, her sassy fuck-off smirk is classic in those ads. Overall, a very annoying marketing theme, but I suppose it would sell to a few people. If the internet has taught us anything, it's that there's a market for everything.

I know some of the folks who worked on the Kin. They really pulled things together to make that device.

I want a >30' E-Ink picture frame with...

Yep, e-ink billboards...

Did you keep your US citizenship?

The Fibonacci sequence has the uncanny ability to appear in fairly random places. For those not interested where the Fibonacci sequence occurs, I'll keep the list short so you can get back to the episode of Family Guy you were watching: Look at bone size relationships, or google "fibonacci sequence in ferns".

TL;DR - google "fibonacci sequence in plants". Interesting or not?

This is just basic scientific interest, and yes, trivia for those not practicing in the fields where the Fibonacci sequence so frequently appears. But, I value a basic scientific curiosity in candidates, especially if they studied Computer Science, or call themselves Computer Scientists. Computer Science being, at its core, the mathematics of computation. More is revealed about a candidate through "useless" trivia than you may realize.

Curiosity is an immensely important trait in engineering positions. It forces people to ask questions, to look for better solutions, and it allows them to debug code issues faster. Uncurious people tend to be rather boring; their conversations certainly are, because they never ask questions.

All the questions and conversation between an interviewer and candidate combine to form an opinion of that candidate's ability to perform the job. I'd never disqualify someone automatically if they were to blow off a question/conversation about fibonacci sequence appearances, or a recent medical story, or the latest Mars probe discovery, but it definitely reveals something about a candidate in a technical field.

Slashdot. The only site where Wikipedia trumps reality (at least the OP posted it tongue in cheek).

...and where Wikipedia is treated as a reliable substitute for knowledge.

OK, work with me here. Close your eyes. The km is now in view, it's familiar length undistorted in your mind's eye. Now, slowly, it stretches to 1.62 times its normal length. You are now viewing a mile.

Ta da. Did this help?

Do you equate the artificial environment inside an airport, promising all kinds of business prosperity in the current locale, with the actual host city/country the airport is in?

I ask this because while I've been to JFK airport, I have yet to actually visit New York. And there is a difference.

Except for San Jose, CA. That airport is totally WYSIWYG.

Oh, please. Do you know how kickstarter actually works?

Don't blame the messenger in this case. If *funded* projects aren't delivered, blame lies with the project owners.

"zipping through space at over 36,000 miles per second! "

Correction: Pioneer spacecraft are travelling at about 10 miles per second. Which is 36,000 mph.

Or in more popular mass-media units, about 633,600 football (US) field lengths per hour.

Using units, that's $3000 / 1e6 people = $3 / 1000 people = $0.003 / person = 0.3 cents / person.

So no, not three thousandths of a cent, but 300 thousandths of a cent.

But, whatever. I'm surprised to hear him complain of a price like this, considering running a TV ad, or a mailing will be at least 25 cents/person.