He is basically saying, I would have fired you if you were investigating me?

AI can produce something that looks like watercolours or sounds like music, but it can't come up with the concepts itself. Yes, you can get a human to produce a list of requirements (probably in some sort of mark-up language) but THAT IS PROGRAMMING - you've just invented a higher level language.

Why departing?

This is where /. breaks down for me. The "first teach kids fundamental principles and learn from there" approach puts off many of those with a genuine interest - particularly the more creative ones (and I would argue programming is as creative as it is mathematical) in a similar fashion that force reading Shakespeare can hollow out intrinsic pleasure / motivation if introduced too early in children fascinated by language.

I'm not saying a greater appreciation of pointers and recursion (or Shakespeare) isn't a wonderful thing - it's just not the way to get started for many potentially gifted creative innovative programmers.

Didn't John Calhoun predict this? Are we seeing the first uber rich Beautiful Ones - the ones left with skills and jobs that are the last to be replaced by the powers of automation / globalisation? http://www.bigthoughtslittleth...

If some Linux distro SOMEWHERE built trackpad support that didn't suck I would be all over this (are all Linux devs on desktops? because the rest of us aren't...)

Interesting points (contradicting to my own thoughts to now), and helpfully visualised - thanks. The big question then, is what will the equilibrium temperature be?

I don't NOT go to the cinema because I can get a copy of the film (legitimately or otherwise) on my PC. The experience is completely difference - it's a shared entertainment option that costs me £15, and almost entirely unrelated.

Or become protectionist to the point that the cost of goods is raised (from import levies, or having to pay American workers the minimum they demand) such that the same money is worth considerably less. Same outcome - Americans (and the rest of the west which has exploited the wealth differential) have a realisation coming that they are not as wealthy as they once thought.

My 1985 car now has a Bluetooth cassette adaptor and holder for my Nexus 5. Done.

Predictable /. response pointing out the negative and moving along. Every change has pros and cons, and yes - a non exact hardware target IS the con here, but the pros - allowing your purchased (and in a handful of cases loved) games to work theoretically indefinitely, and gaining iterative improvements - i.e. the pros of PC gaming - combined with a lower price and not having to muck about with mice etc in the living room are IMO worth it

Ditto. Flabbergasted that America draws the line between low tax and protecting citizens underneath staying alive, when most (all?) developed nations do.

MODERN CIVILISATION ESSENTIALS???

• 1. Universal safety (armed forces)
• 2. Universal justice (non-corrupt (fair) police / legal system)
• 3. Universal education
• 4. Universal healthcare (if you're sick we fix you if we can)
• 5. Universal safety net (basic social security if your circumstances mean otherwise you would starve / die of cold etc)

Code relating to a complex situation or unique idea can often be more understandable (and self-documenting) if laid out in a certain, sometimes more verbose, way

A major benefit is that Mirrors are 3D - and a type of 3D which updates in real time without head gear

Lots of us are waiting for the next dev laptop - and praying for one with a decent graphics card / amount of RAM / SSD space.

We pine for Razer Blades and other such hardware - but if you are tasked with deploying to (a) a *NIX server or (b) multiple handheld devices and want that machine to be portable (with a working trackpad - I'm looking at you Ubuntu) there is no other realistic choice to OSX and thus Apple hardware