Now I realise they have some agreement with international author's associations, but I have not heard that this are exclusive contracts. In other words, everyone can still negotiate a contract with those copyright holders on scanning/republishing their works. Or have I missed something here? So is it a monopoly because they actively exclude other players, or because there are simply no other players in this market?

The biggest problem for most players of course will be the sheer scale of the project...

You say like its a bad thing.

Yeah, a brain implant might be the state of the art for some operating systems, but a lobotomy is probably the more appropriate procedure for Windows users.

to make all doctors have to have an iphone as part of their job?

It seems like they're at the point where they can recognize thought patterns. They intend to map those patterns to a UI. Just the other day I found myself sitting in front of a PC and browsing the web (imagine that). I've been using a Mac a lot lately. I wanted to scroll the page down and I found myself reaching for the touch pad to do that nifty two finger drag motion.

Some where between wanting to scroll the page down and the actual muscle action of reaching for the non-existent track pad was a series of neuro-chemical impulses. It seems like the researchers are identifying those. It would be kind of cool to be able to move a pointer around the screen and do basic web browsing actions (forward, backward, click, scroll, etc) without ever having to reach for the mouse. It seems like I first read about people using alpha waves to control mouse pointers over a decade ago at this point. It's about time they're getting to the point of doing something that might be useful.

Now once they get to the point of bringing up search results based on our thoughts, that is when I will start worrying.

Why, oh why does everyone at Intel think that people just want to 'surf the web' with whatever they happen to invent? You invent freaking brain implants and the first obvious use becomes surfing the web?

It could not be ... `write code` or `use photoshop` or .. anything even remotely challenging to a human brain?

Ah well.

I think I see how windows became such a piece of security shit. You see, they have to let the Chinese security associations work on it to get that market share, then the Germans, then the Israelis, and so on, until any script kiddy in his basement can easily defeat the security. Who says windows is not open source?

http://www.opensource.apple.com/

I think you can download the core of their operating system. Google has said released under opensource. It has said nothing about using the GPL. They could use Apache or some derivative there of and still be "opensource", but it won't be ChromeOS unless on their approved hardware.

We have a client that was using a web based POS and moving back to one that runs on their local lan. Why? If they lost their internet for any reason, they're business is dead in the water. They can't process transactions. Now they are still using a web-based ERP solution, but if they loose internet they can still process transactions. They're store's info just doesn't sync with the ERP until the internet comes back up.

Correct, if your goal is to change a platform then it would make sense to stick with it.

If you find yourself spending an inordinate amount of time trying to develop, test, and get your application approved on the one distribution channel you have available and you realize that you can release applications for other platforms quicker (no review process), ensure that your efforts won't be completely in vain (by having your application rejected), and want to distribute your software yourself, then you may decide that the iPhone isn't a viable platform on which to spend your efforts.

That was a really long sentence.

Why do people insist on looking towards devices that need to be surgically implanted to operate?

Sure the interface is more difficult when it is outside the skull, but the barriers to adoption would be much lower also, would they not? Not to mention support, upgrades, product life cycle, etc.

Are they really that shortsighted?

Certainly an SDK is a valuable asset, but it's a long way from there to "everyone hates webapps".

If the app store sold 99 cent bookmarks to ifart.com, I doubt many would really notice the difference.