Tom, that's just about the most entertaining way I've seen the business I've been spending my career in described. No wonder Joe & Jane Traveler don't understand how it all works, and why should they, as long as they had a wonderful trip and got what they expected.

What your post and the study highlight, however, is how complex the inner workings of this huge industry and the global business relationships are that make it at all possible to deliver all the services necessary for that quality vacation experience and why sometimes things can go wrong along the way when not everyone fulfills their responsibilities. Actually, pretty amazing how well it functions overall.

this confirms my own suspicion although neither the store guy, customer service or sales people I talked to were able to confirm that to me.

Oh, at least 500 or so.

Totally agree with you on this. It's become a no risk game for these CEOs and the only people that suffer are the ones down the totem pole who get laid off by the tens of thousands when those executive bozos run the company into the ditch with the blessings of their buddies on the boards that they control. You don't have to be a stark raving mad socialist to call for a change of this set-up of 21st Century American capitalism before it gets further out of hand.

I have one issue with a Wallet item that on the MacBook was in the Trash which I have now emptied but it still shows up on the iPhone with this in the title VISA - ~$TRASH$~.......

Also I miss the Logins feature from the previous Safari version that allowed me to be on a web page and have the Logins window appear with that pages URL entered. I don't go to web pages from within the 1Password app, but now it seems I have or go thru the rather tedious process of leaving a page in Safari, open 1Password, look up the log-in info, remember it and return to Safari to enter it. Or am I missing something here?

Glad to welcome you to the Mac world. I've been the owner of everyone of their laptops from day one and with only a short period - basically when Jobs was gone - I've been a happy camper. Have used PCs as well but there's no comparison in ease of use. As for an Outlook alternative, I'm watching Zimbra - just acquired by Yahoo! today - which looks like a great alternative, now even more of a solid player than before.

I've noticed the quality of my handwriting suffering after all these years of hacking away at a real keyboard or now on the virtual one on my iPhone (!)

To read my infrequent scribblings on the Moleskin, which I still carry when I travel isn't that easy.

The days of writing with a fountain pen are fading in the distant past.....

My condolences, Peter
You're a lucky many to have had a father like the man you so eloquently describe. You can be proud of him, as I was of my own father who passed away 20 years ago but is still often on my mind, more so as I get older myself realizing how great a man he was.

Had the same concerns after getting a sigmoidoscopy, which is probably what commenter #1 had, a less thorough procedure without sedation. The full colonoscopy was indeed a breeze and there's no need to be worried. So, guys go and get it done.

Are we ever gonna leave our rooms with these news gadgets in place and a well stocked mini-bar close at hand......!