I'm pretty sure Spotify was late to the game... they just had a service that was more popular. I listened to Pandora, and later Slacker for a long time before I had even heard of Spotify.

Sorry, but I find TV's to be quite affordable. Chances are, the kid already has access to one. Keyboards and mice are a dime a dozen. Yeah, a sporty gaming set will put you back, but Fry's has wireless mice for $6. It'll get the job done. Most people could scrounge free ones from a friend as well. The Pi's being just the board provide the opportunity for the device to only cost $29. It's a whopping $50 for the case and power as a kit. That's still a reasonable birthday present.

If the cost is still an issue, the Orange Pi One is an even cheaper option at $10. Though it's reliance on community support since the vendor has virtually no reliable images makes it a little less entry level. It makes a better second or third addition after you already have a real Raspberry Pi.

What this guy said.... The barrier to entry for nerdy children is much higher now then it was for me. The sole saving grace for them is the open source community and vast availability of examples and information. But even then, you still need multiple skillsets with graphic design, code, data, story/purpose. Microcontrollers and SBC like Arduino and Pi's making IOT devices is the best way to amaze now.

Great reply, with this and the list from above I may have to give a Google-less experience a try. Though, to be fair, anything using replaced ad libraries is surely a copyright violation in the US so is a bit moot against the original point; Android without Google Play Services isn't really commercially viable.

Without the Play Services, what do you actually use on the phone? Do you have a decent map application? What email app? Does it have push notifications? I assume you don't use YouTube or any other streaming services either. Is it really a "smart phone" without the apps.

Do you huntdown and manually install all your apps? How many work without adsense or other google services?

CyanogenMod was great, but without installing Gapps it seems a bit pointless to me. How many people honestly run a mobile device with no app store?

The US is muddied with Sprint and Verizon's CDMA crap, but you can have universal US phones. The Nexus 6 is and example I still use. It works on any US carrier. You need a different model for good international support, but that's true for any radio device in the US vs the world. TV's just the same. It's a pain to near impossible to find a good cheap USB ASTC tuner for the US that supports Linux, but there seems to be swarms of DVB ones for the rest of the world. :(

Good luck with that. I'm sure there will be a few outliers that can find someone to manage their neighborhood network, but in most cases you'll see the same mess you see in any HOA or government. A lucky few would even have some nice embezzlement/nepotism going on.

On the surface you make a great argument. Their travel services compete with Google and the like.

Id argue that with the free access they aren't providing Internet access, they're providing intranet access. Netnutrality doesn't apply.. After that, the biggest difference is that you're on their premises. This isn't service brought to your home for general use, or licensed spectrum. If they did offer Internet access, it shouldn't be prioritized. Though, it would likely operate slower than the on-site airport servers simply do to hop count and LAN vs WAN link speeds. That's not layer3/4 packet inspection prioritizing, that's just standard routing and link speeds.

To play devil's advocate we need you to explain how the FCC's anticompetative concerns are invalid or the benefit out weigh the concern.

It's not cost free to the consumer.... It's costs them choice. They have to chose between free data and paid, and is that really a choice? Unlimited zero rated video, or highly limited amount of YouTube and the like.

As someone who watches more YouTube than anything on my cell, I can say it's clearly anticompetative to even a major player. How does the next platform get started if no one wants to sacrifice their data?

Because how long do you think this will take to get patched on Linux vs Windows. An obscure library that may not be installed by default. I haven't checked, but I'd guess the package has already been updated.

MS on the other hand, first needs to decide that this obscure vulnerability is something to be worried about. If it's an optional feature, then they probably won't worry. And even if they do, will they release an immediate update, or will it go through a lengthy testing process and be left pending until the next round of rolled up patches.

Linux gets a pass because it's free, the community is quick to respond, and usually the disclosure includes the required patch to fix the problem. So even if you're on an unsupported built from scratch system, you could patch the problem yourself... immediately.

They just need to make sure they keep it charged on one of those cheapo knockoff Qi quick car chargers. Can't let that incendiary grenade defuse itself.

Don't get me wrong, I think they're violating all kinds of taxi laws in various markets. However, in this case, I would have to stay they're in the right. If there is a licensed driver behind the wheel, then it's not a "self driving car", it's just a car with kick ass cruse control.

I don't think China is a scared of the US as you think. They could crash our economy and throw us into turmoil in a second. Then, if military action is involved, they have so much established manufacturing and natural resources, they could ramp up like we did in WWII but faster and better. Not to mention, with Russia and N Korea just around the corner, they could easily establish partnerships that put the US at a lot of risk.

To make matter worse, they have a huge population they can toss into a meat grinder of a conflict, while the US public will quickly turn against military action with groups like Mothers of America crying out about their kids being killed to protect the rich 1%'s interests.

Then they're is Trump... that guy is just begging for an excuse to toss a nuke. His ego dictates that he have the gloating rights to say he was the first world leader since WWII to have the ball to toss one. If that kleptocrat doesn't partner with China to rob us blind, he'll start a war with them "to make Merica great again"

China has nothing to fear, they own our debt and we've already outsourced all our manufacturing to them. They more a threat to us, then we are to them. I suspect they know this and are just smarter then previous governments. They know they don't' need to beat us in a military fight. They can just slowly buy the nation buy assuming all the debt and undermining the economy. Once it collapses, they call the debt and own America.

Almost the entire US Federal Government draws it power from a superficial link. The link being that the Federal Government resolved disputes involving interstate commerce.

See the Commerce Clause:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

The system won't cost crap to include. The sensors are already installed. Though, it will be the excuse they use to raise the price. "Well, we had to include this custom government mandated broadcast system." It's not our fault that we, the insurance companies, and other stakeholders lobbied congress to get this passed.