> A cheap laptop is $299. The cheapest macbook is $1299.
You get what you pay for. You cannot compare the kind of computer Dell sells for $299 with the kind of computer Apple sells for $1299. When I need most mobility I got myself a $199 Asus Chromebook-like Windows box that now runs Ubuntu beautifully. It's cheap plastic, but I won't be terribly sad if it breaks.
Last time I bought a Mac, it was slightly cheaper than a similar Dell and much cheaper than a Thinkpad, which I'd have to reinstall and, possibly, deal with compatibility issues.
I bought a MacBook Pro once because I believed comments like this. Had lots of hardware trouble, boot problems, had to have it serviced multiple times. Never again. I'm just fortunate that I live in a country where consumer rights are strong and where if you bought a computer and have the same problem three times or so with the service people unable to fix it, you can return it for a refund. Still was a huge time waster each time the machine broke down, though.
This is odd. Apple's customer satisfaction is very high and my personal experience, from multiple Macbooks, is almost flawless. My wife had a minor issue with the trackpad of her MBPr13 and that's all the trouble we ever had with those machines. She won't even consider a non-Apple computer.
Scott Hanselman has been an outspoken advocate for this type of move within Microsoft. Hard to say how much influence he has had, but I think it's probably not insignificant.
My guess is that they will soon introduce Xamarin into the MSDN subscription plans. Hook developers with the free tools, and then sell the cross-platform, mobile capabilities of Xamarin as an upgrade. There is already a 20% discount for MSDN premium and ultimate subscribers.
All I know is that every one of my kids' friends knows about and plays Minecraft regularly. Even girls pay, though not as many. Among elementary school age kids, it's as close to universally accepted/known as you can get. We went on vacation to the beach, and my sons made friends with a boy, and they immediately started talking about Minecraft. The next thing, they are playing on the same server with each other, etc. Same with new friends in other activities like soccer.
Now we're starting to talk about mods or being able to write mods for Minecraft some day. As this young, enthusiastic population of users grows up, they will have a lot of buying power and interest in things like the customizations and programming aspects of the game.
I have 3 daughters, all grade-school age, and they play Minecraft more than I do. We talk about it over dinner and watch YouTube videos about how to build things. I've also seen them make quick friends by talking about it. My daughters have even come to know some server terminology (mostly from hearing me say it while getting their games to work).
It is also a thrill for me, as a parent, to be able to see their young imaginations manifest in a 3D space which I can explore and interact with.
In addition to being physically hard work, you need to get out and go to the job site. That incurs overhead in the form of fewer billable hours per day. So if you're 30 minutes to/from a 1 hour job, your rate is effectively cut by 1/3.
I'll add that it's pretty comfy sitting on a soft chair in an air conditioned or heated office to work.
I ran straight into this when I was doing chemistry lab demonstrating last year. The job pays pretty well for what's asked of you...but since I wasn't actually at uni at the time, it meant I had about 1.5 hours of commute for a 2 hour lab period where I got paid. Which made the rate far more ordinary.
Still doing the same thing this coming semester, but since I'll be an undergrad and it'll run straight to classes, the value proposition is much better.
Presumably citizens are allowed because they don't have the power to charge & convict you of some alleged crime. If the citizen's imagery were somehow brought into a legal matter, then it would be up to the judge to determine its legality. Conversely and unfortunately, law enforcement and government seem to enjoy a defacto legality until someone says otherwise. By limiting their use of this technology, hopefully it mitigates the defacto and clandestine nature of it, bringing it at least to a level of awareness during legal proceedings.
Kids seem to find ways to be creative no matter what. It gives me hope; the Lego masters of today are the tech geniuses of tomorrow!