@JDM life

"The Camry and Accord have built a foundation for years... (BUT) you can beat that with a makeover."

I'd agree with you on that.

while the companies that took gov money should be much more reserved in using items such as private jets, there are business to be done. And it is the matter of efficiency. If the exec flying private lands a big contract, or a deal, then yes, whether they took gov money or not, it shouldnt be questioned. If they were flying around without much productivity, then it is a huge waste of resources and should be prohibited whether they took government money or not.

It is the matter of doing the business. Sometimes you have spend money to make money. You cant just cut costs of doing business and expect to do well. And if the execs think other wise, then they are walking down the path of destruction even without gov intervention.

I just think it is comical that people think gov involvement in private sector is beneficial to the overall well-being of the country. Since when did government know the best?? Last time i checked, heavy government involvement does more harm than good. Let the natural selection take its place. It has worked for all history without bureaucratic involvement. Let the mismanaged companies die, and allow the well managed companies rise above. Yes, thousands of people will lose the jobs, but unfortunately, that is the product of mismanagement. At least the whole foundation which our society is built on, which we have fought so hard to protect throughout history wont be ignored. The foundation of credit between businesses are falling apart. How can we call the government forcing the investors to take less money than what is owed in any way capitalism?? Is that what we stand for? Government forcing us to do what ever they think they know is best?? Please.

Government has no idea what its doing. Just look at what has happened in this economic crisis.... why did we bail out chrysler and gm, knowing that they were going to go bankrupt?? any business 101 student would tell you that the profit model that were in practice at those companies just wasnt sustainable.

Yet, government decided that they know how to spend your money better than you. I dont know a single person that would agree with that statement; why are we letting someone else spend our money, when they have no idea what the hell that they are doing??

I know, this rant has gone on for too long, and it isnt even much of a argument with Sea Urchin, but something that i had in my mind for a while.

Personally, i dont understand why people are so hostile against execs flying private.

One, whether they fly, drive, ride, or use a rocket, it doesn't concern anyone besides the people flying and the company. (obviously now that chrysler is in lines with Lada, Gaz, etc, in that they are good ole socialist gov products, the gov can tell them whats what).

Two, people seems to have a very skewed view of the rationale for private jets. The purpose is to get the execs to the place they need to go as soon as possible. Why do you want to make the guy you are paying $2500/hr ($5,000,000 annual salery divided into hourly figure) to sit at the airport and waste time? Execs need to get to places to conduct business in the morning and may need to come back for a board meeting in the afternoon.

Three, for those who say why cant they just use web conferencing/teleconferencing, it just isnt the same. If you are pitching an idea, its much much easier to do it in person rather than do so electronically. Whether it's a firm hand shake, or eye contact and overall demeanor during presentation, there are personal connections that the technological solutions just can not provide.

Why don't we all take hand at keeping government intervention out in private sector of this country and stopping vilification of all execs out there. Whether they actually put in effort to get to where they are, or just parachuted in, they had to hustle to get to where they are. Stop the bashing of execs just because you dont have the hustle. Stop the socialistic trend that is building up this country!!!

It blows my mind that people are willing to pay $850 a month to drive an electric mini. You'll never recoup that money in the fuel savings. I don't get the appeal to this.

I used to think this way too for the longest time. But I realized that you have to apply the laws of economics a little bit deeper than just a simple cost to benefit analysis of premium added to MSRP vs Fuel savings. The first models of new technology is always more expensive. Look at gaming systems, cell phones, blue ray, computers; all of them in the beginning, were very costly, but as production numbers increase, cost always decreases.

Cars are very alike in terms of depreciation with any other modern technology. This is because manufactures put out the better and less costly models. The reason that they can do this is because the same reason Sam's Club or Costco is cheaper, bulk.

Early adopters will always pay more. Look at Iphone, it was $600 when it came out, now you can get one for $200.

prolly because RIM is from Canadia

yes, it is a costly process, but is it that much more than the process of drilling and refining petroleum? or is it that much more than developing batteries for EV when it might not even be a full fledged solution to replacing internal combustion engines? developing any technology to replace gasoline is going to be a costly process. As expensive is producing gasoline is now, it was far far more expensive when it was first introduced. As hydrogen technology gets more wide spread, the cost of producing hydrogen will become cheaper; economy of scale.

Also, I personally think being able to reproduce our experiences of automobiles is worth the cost of hydrogen. like I said in my original post, EV is great for daily commuting, but I regularly travel outside of my local area quite a bit, so being able to fill up with hydrogen in minutes, like gasoline, is crucial factor. no one wants to sit at a EV charging station for hours just to get the car going again. And no matter how great battery tech is, its not going to allow charging for minutes and go hundreds of miles. Hell, few hours is considered to be quick.

Why bother with hybrids and battery...? or even EV and battery... We should be developing hydrogen cars. Something that is realistic replacement of internal combustion engine. Where will we get the electricity needed to charge these batteries? coal? wind power? Get out of here. Unless nuclear plants are developed along with the electric cars, all we are doing is taking out one emission factor and pushing it on to another, so in essence, we havent solved the actual problem. Plus, did any one watch top gear's segment on tesla and the honda hydrogen cars? they bring up a great point in that with electric cars, we have to change the way we motor; charge the car, travel around, come back to the base station, charge again for a long time. its great for local commuting, but this makes long trips impossible. Even if they can get a network of charging stations, how long can you tolerate sitting there charging the batt? State and federal gov should be giving subsidies to hydrogen car and infrastructure development, reason being that it most closely emulates the automotive experience as we know it.

I dont understand why this is news. Seeing it on engadget is fine, but I heard this story on NPR on my way to work today. I guess the older generation is finally realizing that people text. alot. I work for a wireless company and some of these people get mad if i offer them text packages "OMG, I DONT DO THAT KIDDIE SHIT. TEXTING IS WHAT KIDS DO." and they completely fail to realize the usefulness of it. Some people dont use it fine, but dont get mad about it. well, i guess i went off on a tangent, but anyways, why is this news?

how long does that take to charge? i mean looks so impractical for everyday uses except when you are deserted somewhere with your gadgets. but even then, its too big to lug around, so wouldnt a hand crank charger be better idea?

is this using bluetooth? if it is, can i use it with winmo?