My personal experience with tablet-based backup makes me say that the Amazon is a bad idea. I rented a helicopter and tried to store my data stones in the Amazon's clouds... Let me tell you, their cloud platform does not have the stability you are looking floor. 30 seconds after upload, I was left with fragmented, unrecoverable data.

One thing to remember is that Microsoft is a huge, sprawling organization. Or rather, it is an ecosystem of smaller organizations. While some portion of the IP, legal and marketing groups are working to ensure that OSS is not a threat to Microsoft via patent litigation and memos to Best Buy staff, it is entirely possible that wholly separate division is working to tap into OSS goodness to help a platform. Some flavor of multiple personality disorder is a common problem in large companies. Take a look at microsoft.com, where each area of the site is managed by a separate product team.

This is the last ditch attempt to recover a personal drive. If your donkey is on the line at work, send it to the expensive clean room guys. After all, they're expensive clean room guys - if they can't do it, how can you be held responsible?

SFDC disagrees. To play futurist for a second, I would say that large corporations will either move towards web-based apps that they host themselves, or towards entrusting more sensitive information to companies that provide efficiency-improving systems that "just work."

I imagine that polluted areas tend to be heavily populated and industrialized. Things like car fatalities, murder rates and industrial accidents might have something to do with avg. lifespan.

So pragmatism excludes innovation?

Actually, it's the kind of contrarian action that HR people might find intriguing. If the OP is able to convey through cover letter and interview that he is so passionate about working in this field that he is willing to undertake substantial personal risk, it might prove to be a strong selling point.

I suppose there's also the possibility that these kids doing incredibly cool things will graduate and put together small companies to get paid for doing cool things. Enjoy your cubicle!

So, are they going to be tried as adults?? *blink*

I can see it now... *EC Considering Removing Notepad from Windows Based on Monopoly Claims*

Corporate law requires that a company be able to demonstrate that the company protected the stockholders interests to the best of their ability.