The people who led the Butlerian Jihad in Frank Herbertâ(TM)s Dune where the good guys.

I think 14 years is a good run for an Internet-connected device. You are correct that you can get a "dumb" thermostat which will run forever. My in-laws also have an avocado colored rotary phone in their basement which is 50 years old. But I think I'll keep my 5 year old smartphone which I'll probably replace in the next three years.

It may be that many of you in the home market won't miss VGA, but in most corporate offices, VGA is the only common connection supported by the projectors in most conference rooms. While an adapter is an option, I suspect that laptops marketed to businesses will have VGA adapters for longer than the next five years as the refresh cycle for projectors is generally much longer than the refresh cycle for laptops.

And the first marketed IBM microcomputer, the 5100, cost roughly $20,000 in 1975, which is about $80,000 in today's dollars.

The point isn't that it's taking 30 years to get an ROI. The point is that it's currently not mass produced and it gets an ROI at all. Also that eBay, Google, Staples, Wal-Mart and others are buying them. Yes, we need to see if it will move to mass production and become more cost effective and we need to see if the units are reliable over the long haul, but so far this product looks more compelling than most eco-fuel stories I see on Slashdot.

Typewriters have a leg up on computers in that some are used for the entire career of an author, but the sentiment is not for the thing, but the person who owned it. For example, I'm not a Apple fan per se (they make good stuff--I just don't have the bug), but I would appreciate the chance to see and fiddle with any Apple computer used by Douglas Adams to write a HHGTTG novel.

I have to disagree slightly. I don't think persons who would pull the plug would do so to save their margins. They would pull the plug because they can't control the Internet, and this goads them. They have built a perception of their own power into which the Internet doesn't factor. In these cases complaints about lost profits are often a red herring--it's about power.