ktappe

SpamSandwich said:

Large mergers should not be blocked. This myth about preventing monopolies is simply nonsense. 

Except it's really, really not. To think otherwise is to completely ignore reality. In the airline industry we now have an oligopoly and certain airfares have gone way up. I run group trips and we can no longer get group discounts because the airlines have merged to the point of being in full control of the market and having all the power in negotations; we can't go somewhere else.  Then look at the recent competition in the cellular market, with all of them now rushing to match T-Mobile's unlimited data plans. If the market constricted, all those deals would go away.  Why do you think otherwise? What *DATA* do you have other than your opinion and "the free market is always best" brainwashing?

Good for Unified Patents. They saw a dire need in the industry and started selling patent troll insurance. Looks like they have a bunch of big customers, including Apple. Because their policy is to "never pay", they are bound to be extreme attack dogs in court. 

blastdoor said:

Beware -- if you actually do say F-u and drop out of the workforce, you better be darned sure you'll never need a job again. I know a couple from Microsoft that left back in the 90s. They lived it up for over 10 years, but then along came some stock market crashes, and suddenly they needed jobs again. 

It turns out that taking F-u money doesn't look good on a resume, nor does over a decade of unexplained unemployment. 

Several problems with this: 1) With even the most basic of financial planning (such as using the 4% rule), you can guarantee F-U money will last you the rest of your life/lives. You just have to be sure not to screw up or be irresponsible. 2) Gaps on a resume are *easily* explained by saying you were consulting or founding a startup or whatever. The *real* problem is if you let your skills languish over that period of time. Again, it's a matter of being responsible.

flootist said:

Whether it was a 'defect' or not, clearly the system wasn't capable of dealing with what was presented to it. Must be nice, being able to bribe one's way out of manslaughter.

The system is not being marketed perfect. Drivers are clearly told that there are situations where the system will find it is overwhelmed, and at those times the system will request the driver take over. This guy ignored those warnings and ignored the system's request to take over. And somehow you are still blaming Tesla instead of the inattentive driver?

Apple's loss. The Mini is the only iPad I will ever consider. The others are too large IMHO. I like my Mini 2 and will (apparently) keep using it for the foreseeable future.