Now Apple has us pay for the privilege of being the product.

Haven't they ever played The Last of Us?

You just KNOW that the price/subscription/functionality has this dead before it hits the shelves. Then again, haven't Japanese guys been known to marry video game characters?

You misspelled "Asimov." He was a little touchy about such things and deserves better treatment by a group like this one. Just saying.

I'm off to check the temperature of the underworld.

Same here. I live on the outer edge of the shadow of Republic airport on Long Island. There is however one thing that should be addressed--airport control zones are shaped like an upside down wedding cake. The closer to the airport you are, the more onerous the HEIGHT restrictions get. The concept of 3d airspace should be addressed by these so called geofences.

Those prices are, in a word, obscene.

In Firefox, I bump up the font a couple points and it helps. CTRL+ and CTRL-, or CTRL help too. BUT if I follow a link to a new page it ends up in the smaller sized font. Not to mention, once you start playing with font sizes, a lot of web sites have windows (usually, but not always advertising) that cover the text, or the text inside those non resizeable windows "grows" behind the window--Like the /. videos window. Fact is, we've had computers on our desks, or on our laps for over twenty years now. People who were young when they first starting using computers are on the verge of needing a little help with their vision. By now it should be easy, intuitive, universal and platform agnostic.

My vision is fine. I see my eye doctor regularly and have had cataract surgery quite a while ago. Back in the day I found amber and green screens MUCH less stressful. A web site that doesn't support choices is a sign of snobbery or lazy programming. (IMO. But I'll stand by that decision under the tag that I make every post with, Mr AC.) And what are /. comments for if not complaining?

I've always been aware that it's rare for technology to make any sort of concession for those whose dexterity or vision is below a certain "normal" standard. Raised black lettering on black panels. Tiny little ambiguous ports. Web pages that don't resize well. Pages too bright. (And yeah, I'm looking at you Slashdot.) I've been known to use sunglasses to view my monitor at night. I gave up trying to work the menu with those little hidden buttons. I sure do miss brightness and contrast knobs sometimes.

I absolutely HATE the way you can't adjust the volume on the opening advertisement. It was enough to make me click away before the show started. Now I remember why I never watch these things.

Notice I specifically used the term "sci fi"? There was a lot of back and forth over what defines "science fiction" and how it should be labeled back in the day. (I won't say which "day.") But for what it's worth--Yeah, Star Wars is a fantasy with elements of science fiction. But most of the movie going audience doesn't see that.

Anyone around who remembers seeing Star Wars (as opposed to "A New Hope") when it opened, understands just how underserved, disrespected, and just plain bad science fiction films were back then. Star Trek and 2001 A Space Odyssey were a decade ago and already also-rans (tho remembere fondly by fans--only.) Star Wars was fun and blinding and fun for everybody. It single handedly saved the genre. Some famous bookie opined that CEIII would do better than SW--which it did--and then the whole sci fi thing would be forgotten again. Now, Sci Fi films, (I use THAT precise term. NOT SF or Science Fiction.) are just another genre, as likely to succeed as anything else. It just wasn't like that in the seventies folks.

I can understand having to limit support. But McGraw Hill's response was to shut the door as soon as I got to the log-in page. They didn't do any checks, or give any warnings during the initial account creation--which upon completion dropped me right into the courseware jump-off page. But as soon as I logged off and tried to come back--BOUNCE! I knew I'd be able to find another way in, but many people--probably most--wouldn't be able to. This is the first time in years I've had an absolute and unnecessary roadblock and it's time to end this sort of petty bullshit. This year I certainly WON'T be doing my taxes online at H&R Block, and I'll never sign up for another course that uses McGraw Hill Contact.