Well, Apple has Beats. So there.

The important differentiator for me is the built-in 4G LTE. The Surface Pro 4 doesn't have a 4G model and one hasn't been announced (yet).

I don't mind good ideas, but this isn't one. The problem is an engineering shortage in the U.S. There are currently way more good ideas than there are engineers to implement them. H1Bs at least keep the job in the U.S. with the option of filling it with an American if we can ever get a decent number recruited into STEM and properly trained.

If you forcibly reduce the ability to use H1Bs then companies will either become less competitive and/or go out of business or they hire offshore consulting firms to do the work. Either way, the job is gone.

H1Bs aren't here so that a tech company can pay them less than an American engineer. They are here because tech companies can't find any fucking qualified American engineers. Just go talk to your HR department. Go talk to admissions of any university.

You might save some money but if you factor in the cost of a Windows 7 Professional license then the small (and I mean small) savings doesn't offset the amount of time you spent spec'ing, purchasing, stocking, and building your workstations. This is because Redmond won't give you the same deal they give Michael Dell.

You would save some money but if you factor in the cost of a Windows 7 Pro license then I doubt that the small savings would offset the amount of time you spent spec'ing, purchasing, stocking parts and building your workstations. This is because you pay Redmond a lot more than Michael Dell pays.

I wonder how "most people" launch and switch between their word processor, spreadsheet and web browser without using the OS?

A direct "upgrade" from Windows XP to Windows 7 requires the user to backup their data, reload the OS and reinstall all of their apps. I can understand why a typical XP user wouldn't find the process at all appealing. It was and still is a mistake for Microsoft to not provide a one-step upgrade path from XP to W7 that maintains the user environment. Since it's not impossible but requires a costly two-step upgrade from XP->Vista->W7, Microsoft could have offered a one-step XP->W7 process but apparently chose not to.

I guess you no longer have any reason to ask the guy sitting in the window seat to pull down the shade so you can sleep.

Yes, you still need a pilot. Somebody has to push the "autoland" button.

Yes it can. An autopilot/autothrottle/autoland system can fly an ILS approach, flare and touchdown. It's called CAT III ILS and isn't new technology. It has been around for a few decades. Both JFK and Heathrow have CAT III ILS approaches.