Long term the problem will fix itself. Supply will meet demand, labor will equalize with capital, etc.

The problem is how long will the people living now do without their usual standard of living to solve a problem that will finally solve itself years from now?

Short term "fixes" are by definition made to help people today.

The United States has a serious temporary cash flow. Who's going to float a nation of billionaires the money? For a couple of quarters? We're totally good for it.

Please let me win the earbuds.

I'd show it sealed and pristine to my 7yr old son; he has been promised a DSi if he can manage stay off of orange alert (think Homeland Security warning colors) at school.

No doubt. I used to work tech support for one of those large customer service mills. It was never about me wanting to get paid *extra* time, it was about the company being anal about my work time. See, they got paid by the call, so they wanted every minute I was at the office to include call time. That meant, if my work started at 3pm, I was to be at work at 2:45 to set up my workstation. See, I'd be doing work, but I'd only get paid *starting at 3*. Now I didn't leave my job because of it, but it wasn't as if they were sticklers for punctuality, they certainly didn't have any problem with me staying over an extra 15 minutes to shut down my workstation . . . so you see, they got an extra half hour of work out of me every day without compensation. The only solution to that, of course was to find a better job and quit that one. So yeah- it's not as outlandish as Engadget makes it out to be. People shouldn't have to do *any* work without being paid for it. And if they do, it should be their decision, not the company's.

I, like most gamers own all three. I also owned all three of last gen's consoles.

Wii:I don't play Wii games much, but I like it because I can play my old GCN games on it, no problem. My two boys enjoy it and I don't have to worry about paying for new games. I like popping in Ocarina of Time for it myself.

PS3: I have the least interest in this console. I like it because it seems to support most of my video formats: I prefer it because I can play my DVDs on it without it sounding like I'm launching a scramjet (I'm looking at you, noisy 360). I can't say I'm too impressed with the games. the non-exclusives- I'll most likely purchase on the PS3 to save myself from listening to the loud 360. As it stands, I purchased the 40G at 399 (I actually traded in frequent flyer miles for both the Wii and the PS3) and I like it fine. Just not compelling enough right now to turn it on all the time.

Xbox360: I used to use it for movies. No longer. I can't stand the noise. PS3 is my DVD player of choice (as I mentioned above). Exclusives are great. Gears, Halo, Mass Effect, I'm looking at you. The fact that PS3 is playing "also-ran" in games like Bioshock doesn't sit well with me--. I play RockBand all the time on the 360 so do my boys and my wife (my wife hates video games and isn't too impressed with the wii). Can't beat it for social interaction. Live is great and to me- well worth the 50 bucks a year. Add on top of that the Netflix this fall, and it could return to be my movie watching platform of choice.

For me, 360 wins this gen. I've already purchased more games for it, I use it more, and I find its exclusives more compelling. I was actually considering selling my PS3 after E3 came out with no real reason to keep playing it. Could finance an Iphone . . .

You're so caught up in defending the disputed link between playing games and action that you miss the whole point of the post. I'm surprised at your anger. I still contend, you can't make a game that makes stealing such fun and then be surprised when people steal your game.

Taking one example and expanding it to another is very interesting. Murder and petty theft are quite different things. I'd submit that the barrier to entry to one is much higher than the other. Whereas I might steal a game from a website after fantasizing about it in my video game, I certainly wouldn't equate the risk of being caught by IP police with the thought of ending a human life.

Of course your way out of proportion response to my post kind of lets me know where you stand on disproportionate reactions. There is medicine for that kind of ailment, you know.

The columnist fails to see the greatest irony yet, perhaps deliberately, that a product that makes a game out of flaunting the law through theft, vice and murder is being stolen on the internet. His argument would have been much sounder and saner had he included that remark. To which I ask the question. If a game has "Grand Theft" in the title, can we blame anyone for stealing it?

Easy. Because BluRay was marketed as a DVD replacement. You mind paying five dollars more for a DVD? On the one hand, industry is whining about the slow adoption on HD content- on the other, these same industry leaders are charging more money for what is essentially the same product.

@Toth:
Yes! I agree! And let's take that further! Why should I have to pay for a DVD when I paid to see the movie in the theater? I'm just buying the same thing right? And I already saw all the comericals when I saw LOST the first time! Why am I paying ABC for the content again on season DVD volume? And why do I have to PAY for food and the PAY again to have the sewage removed? Didn't I already pay for the food once? You're brilliant, Toth!

I find the whole argument quite entertaining. NBC did make money off of their shows. They made tons of money in revenue. They already turned a profit on their products. The iTunes store is just another avenue from which they want to make more money. There's nothing wrong with that. I agree.

Of course, that's what the writers are saying as well. But NBC (and other content providers) are claiming that the writers are already making a profit, they shouldn't be able to make more profit.

Of course they want all of us to swallow the fact that it's perfectly reasonable for a corporation to maximize profits, but individuals are manifesting some sort of immoral greed when they want the same kind of income structure.

Finish the fi -- holy sh... is that boogie nights in 1080p???