Remind me never to buy anything from a CompUSA in New York if this idiot is representative of their fine employee training and knowledge.

Get your facts straight before posting articles like this. Whether you guys like it or not Engadget is now one of the most read tech sites on the net and you should start acting like it instead of a college blog. Call Apple directly, get their side of the story, then compare notes with the SEC accountant and post the story. Takes an extra 30 minutes, but saves you hassles and in the long run should help increase readership.

While this isn't verified as of yet, I'm left wondering how much longer studios will spend years and millions on development of restrictive technologies hampering the end-user's experience just to have it hacked within months of bringing their product to market?

Unless its a Sony? Come on guys, this is a serious story, try not to lead with "We're a bit heavy-hearted" and end with "har-har". Besides, what do phone batteries and laptop batteries have to do with one another?

You guys might want to tone it down a bit with your armchair lawyering. Stating that Apple might have 'swiped another' could open you up to legal action from Apple for defamation, and we all know how sue happy those Apple lawyers are.

Now if someone can get it to work with connected iPods or networked libraries we'd be set!

I don't view this as a problem. For me most of my clients want someone locally not some group of people in a foreign country doing their projects. Now corporate america might be a different story, but I'm fairly busy trying to keep up with all of the freelance gigs (I have turned a few down last month because of a lack of time). As for Washington, don't bother, besides how can they do anything to help? What we need to do is convince our clients that we're worth what we charge or perhaps some programmers need to come down from their high horse charging hundreds per hour for a skill that is no longer rare or requires certs and a 4-year degree.

A good short read. This is a topic that is just screaming for someone to write a book about. The ever increasing number of so-called "flash developers" wanting to make everything flash is increasing and has made more of a negative impact on clients wanting to incorporate interactive content in their sites. Many clients I deal with on a daily basis wanting to update or add to their site feel better about Javascript solutions rather than Flash even though Flash is the proper fit for their needs. This is a result of too many developers creating poor Flash content that really doesn't speak to the intended audience. I really like the idea of companies having a thoughtful and open conversation on flash-based content like the author's firm. To-flash or not to-flash is a topic that will certainly continue for the better part of the decade.

I once had this conversation with a client who manufactured parts for the auto industry. I simply told them that they can get my source code when they start handing out the blueprints to their products in each and every package they sell to their customers. Pretty much ended that request as they finally saw the light of what source code means to developers. For most clients source code means nothing, I've only encountered this problem when I get a client who knows just enough to be dangerous (and apparently idiotic) or when my company gets a contract from a big corporation to upgrade internal networks and intranets when their IT department gives the execs the finger. IT gnomes love to pick apart your code for fun and games to try and justify their salary and hard nosed attitude towards internal projects. My stance on source code is "you can't have it unless you pay me for intellectual property rights." Luckily I've only had to have that conversation a total of five times in the last six years.