Sounds like you forgot about the bnetd fiasco -- that was a good 10 years ago.

If people are willing to pay for them, how is it a "scam"? It's not like anyone is being tricked -- it's a voluntary exchange of money for a (digital) good between two parties. If I'm willing to pay $10 for a book, why wouldn't I be willing to pay $10 for the ability to read that book in a more convenient (for me) format? Just because the marginal cost of production is low doesn't make me benefit any less from it.

Wow, that's amazing! Thank you -- now I have 3 screens instead of 2!

-Comment about lack of competition
-Comment about poor quality of US bandwidth relative to other countries

What did I miss?

Wow there are a lot of comments in this thread.

April fool!

Dangit. Replying to undo accidental "Redundant" mod=(

I agree with the parent for the most part (I also have a single cell phone). Talking on the phone is one of my least favorite activities - I am extremely awkward on the phone and it's generally inefficient (reading an email or text message is much faster than needing to talk to someone). Also, voice mail is a hassle.

HOWEVER, there are always times I need it.
-Picking up my wife from somewhere, if one of us needs to change the schedule
-Meeting up with people (I know, I know, social activities...)
-More generally, if I'm not at home (no internet access) and need to contact someone
-My parents enjoy talking over the phone

So while I would love a phone-less world, I don't see it happening (for me) anytime soon.

Cool!

Thank you!

I am younger (currently in grad school) than many people here, so I haven't had as much of a chance to accumulate books. The only "dead tree" books I have are a handful of textbooks, and even in that category I have far more books in .pdf form than physical versions (easier to search, carry around, etc etc). I don't understand why people would have huge bookcases filled with stuff. If I want to read a book for fun, I check it out of the library. If I need a book as a reference, it's easier to have an electronic version that I can search. Maybe other generations will have different views on this (especially since they actually have money to spend buying books, but why would you buy a book when it's free in a library?). Also, how do you make spaces appear in comments?

Oops I misclicked so I'm replying to clear my Redundant mod. I am American and couldn't agree more - the ratio of action to commercials is disturbingly low. It becomes even more apparent when going to a game - every few plays all the players go head to the sidelines and stand around, waiting for commercials to end. If I were a player, that would drive me crazy!