Gosh darn it all, I purchased a USB device but my 486 DX2 66 doesn't have a USB port, so I purchased a USB card so I could use my USB device and wouldn't you know it the USB card is PCI and I only have ISA slots. Then I puchased one of these new fangled LCD displays but my Trident video card couldn't push 1440x900 so I purchased a NVidia graphics card and wouldn't you know it the graphics card is PCIe and I don't even have an AGP slot! Then I purchased the new Office 2013 and put in my CD-ROM and wouldn't you know that Office 2013 is on a DVD! Sumabitch.

Nice opinion, but I cannot stand Gmail's crap interface. Why do some features use icons and others use labels? Why can't the commands be near each other or even on the same menu? Why have a gear icon for settings and when you put you cursor over it is says "Settings" in a label that is exactly the same size as the button? Why the mouseover? Why not make the settings button say "Settings?" And the mouseovers for emails hang on the screen too long. It's like I need to activate a second mouseover to get rid of the first mouseover! For a while they didn't even have a pull down arrow on my account name for account settings. I just had to guess that it was a menu. Oh, and their icons look like shit. What the fuck is that, an umbrella? All the cool features cannot make up for lack of usability. That site needs a weed-whacker taken to it. Don't get me started on targeted advertising. Gmail is great because the service is rarely down and they allow me to use pretty much all standard email protocols to access it. You can keep the web interface. For one of the companies I run I set them up with MDaemon. Awesome anti-spam and a killer web client. I even like Horde, SquirrelMail, and RoundCube better than Gmail, and they are not so great either.

I'm going to have to agree with evanak. The definition of PDA is vague enough to conclude that Psion certainly did not invent it.

Every time I go to get a pair of headphones they that damn asymmetric cord as if everyone has their mp3 player in the left back pocket and needs the left side of the cord shorter. Sorry but this really bothers me and no one is mentioning it.

Your car analogy sucks. If I could compile a new car by peeking under the bonnet the automobile manufacturers would have to make money via support and they already have a lot of competition in the support (repair) arena. Their profits would plummet. No one has an automobile manufacturing plant in their backyard, yet many have compilers on their PC. This is why closed source software is a viable business model.

You sir, are feeding the trolls. In doing so you have fallen into their trap and revealed information about yourself that others may find abhorred. You have yourself become a troll. Please trade-in your low ID for a higher one.

How many Dell laptops have you had? What models? What are the specs? I've supported hundreds of Dells, Macs, HPs, and Lenovos. The Dell Latitudes since the D630 models are quite nice; of course they had Core2Duo CPUs. The newer E5XXX and the E6XXX models are speedy. The D600 models were the only models I didn't like and that's due to the crap Pentium M CPUs and slow disks. The c640s are power hungry and suck dry the battery but run okay and are built very well. I still have a few D610s in the field. I have an E5420 i5 laptop which runs Win7 often has Windows 2008 with SQL 2008, Windows XP, and CentOS 6.2 running simultaneously in Virtualbox without problems, as does the Thinkpad T420 I setup. Of course this means very little without stating the specs, like SSD. Your post seems anecdotal, which does not help the OP. If the end user is going to run Windows, I suggest to, using the specs of a Mac as a benchmark, purchase a Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, or HP. It will save you at least $200. I like Asus, Sony, and Fujitsu laptops, but their support is terrible for end users. I haven't even seen a Gateway laptop since 2001. They were awesome in quality but not price.

Good job. You found an eleven year old Microsoft non-OS software vulnerability that stores passwords in plain text when the service pack for the software is installed in a non-recommended mode.

I thought the OP was griping about corporate use? In a business environment printing is very relevant. Checklists, spreadsheets, labels, maps, directions, notes, instructions, letters, boarding passes, checks, etc. If someone at work could not print, there would be hell to pay in ten minutes. At home what good is checking in for your flight on your iPad if you need to purchase an Airprint compatible multifunction printer just to print you boarding pass? At work we don't purchase color multifunction Airprint compatible consumer printers. We have big ass laser copiers that you need to purchase a $20 app in order to print to (Toshiba) and the apps don't work for shit. My co-workers Windows phone can print to our Toshiba. Sorry, but sometimes you absolutely need to print that one single thing. When you cannot, you realize you are not using a general purpose computer; you are using a useful toy. No matter how useful it is, it cannot compete with the flexibility of a general purpose computer. As another poster pointed out, iPads become more relevant once Jailbroken, so flexibility is not actually an iPad problem, it is an Apple problem.

I will be happy if it simply allows LPR or SPM printing. Printing from an iPad sucks.

My 72 Buick had an acorn shell by the carb so after you accelerated it held the throttle open. It was a little scary at first when I sped up to 35 mph quickly and it didn't stop accelerating. I simply put it in neutral. I found I could actually drive by shifting from neutral to drive and back again. A cop couldn't figure this out? I was only 18, but then I knew how to drive a car. I now drive a 2007 Acura TL which can easily be shifted into neutral while driving and it even state that IN THE OWNER'S MANUAL. I highly doubt the cop read his owners manual because that is not what cops do. Also, my floor mats are held in place by special hooks. (The acorn shells were from squirrels trying to keep warm. I kept the shell as a memento for years until it disintegrated)

I find that many provide source code that doesn't compile correctly while keeping the source that does, then sell the compiled executables as a service. Kind of a roundabout way of getting people to pay for your product up front so you don't starve. Say what you like, people are greedy.

I set my phone to record audio when I am at an interview. I have not caught anything worth a lawsuit yet, but they say all sorts of crazy illegal shit. Someday I'll have the balls to set it for video and place it on the table pointing at them. I get cocky at interviews considering I already have a great job so it is more like I am interviewing them.

As if it isn't bad enough that an RDP worm is already spreading due to weak passwords. If users/admins are incompetent enough to use passwords fit for luggage you can only guess how many unprotected Internet facing RDP servers will be ravaged within the next few weeks. Don't get me wrong. I have seen situations that actually call for an Internet facing RDP, such as screaming sales execs behind third party firewalls that block egress GRE, 443, and 22, with the variety of IP addresses causing admins to play wack-a-mole in Webmin to allow individual IPs, but these admins have already patched. If a rogue Fawkes writes a worm for a Massive DDoS or particularly nasty payloads many of us will suffer. An exam should be required to run these services and it should be harder to get than a drivers license. Am I ranting?

Funny this story should pop up today. I tried to take the bus yesterday. I was very impressed with the technology Google provided. Step by step and door to door instructions with timelines, bus times, bus numbers, and costs were incredibly accurate. It had me walk 6 miles, take a bus 4 miles, and then walk another mile all for a 4.1 mile trip. Cost by bus = $3.50. Cost by car = $2.85. I planned on walking but I ended up getting a ride. Too bad public transportation is such bullshit. If they would trash the Sprinter (train in San Diego) and make it a bike path I would ride my bike everywhere. Maybe start a rickshaw service. The streets are not a safe place to ride a bike. Google should evaluate the routes instead of reporting how badly they are planned.