Okay, so not epic fail, but a bit of a potential fail if they manage to come up with yet another phone which despite having a really cool feature where it can change modes just due to it's orientation.... it still takes a bloody eternity to switch modes.

Perhaps I'm the only one. Perhaps everybody else's phone can go from dial-a-pizza to 6-gigapixel with motion-stabilisation in 0.001 seconds but every handset I've tried has something between an annoying and an interminable wait before the thing actually starts functioning like something approximating a camera.

If I really cared about taking reasonable quality photos on the spur of the moment, I think I'd still carry a dedicated digital camera.

TFA says that they knew this would happen 'sooner or later' but doesn't mention anything specific.

The question is, did anyone have any specific knowledge of the likelihood of this specific collision prior to the event?

I'm assuming just now there wasn't orbital information of sufficient precision to predict this.

Until the UK mobile network operators begin to get realistic with their data pricing structures, 3G/4G services will be the preserve of those with too much money and not enough initiative.

Notice the spectrum is to be auctioned? Last time they auctioned spectrum, the prices ran up to silly money and the consumers are now paying for it.

I'll not comment on European data roaming charges to avoid getting a hernia.

Slightly odd to hear that they used a King Air as the chase ship as Scaled previously used a Rutan-designed Beechcraft Starship which always looked the part with it's futuristic/unusual canard pusher configuration.

I suppose with so few Starships remaining and the maintenance issues that implies; it may now be easier for Scaled to just borrow or lease King Airs for the job.

Still, it would be a shame to hear there are no Starships left flying.