Image is important, and seems to be what everyone here is talking about. Don't forget inputs, though. Personally I'm already out of HDMI ports:

1) XBox 360
2) PS3
3) Apple TV
4) Tivo Series 3

Because the manufacturer changed too???

Actually this is why I have no problem buying first release products from Apple. With AppleCare you should have no problem getting stuff like this fixed.

Every tech product has bugs/flaws -- the good companies deal with you fairly in resolving them. And Apple definitely qualifies on that front.

Get real. Anytime your attention is not on the road, you're a danger to yourself and others. That includes everything that's been described, possibly up to and including talking to someone in the passenger seat.

You shouldn't be doing _any_ of that while you're driving. Kids need a pacifier? Fine, get off the goddamn road and give it to them.

And btw, to the idiot that said loud music would result in being rear-ended by an ambulance.... Where the heck do you drive? Ambulances where _I_ drive have big flashing lights that you see LOOOONG before you hear them. They also don't rear end anyone just because their path isn't cleared. That would be kind of stupid, don't you think? And you really think he's going to miss an ambulance tail-gating his ass just because he has some music on?

The only thing that's dangerous about music is if it's distracting you from being able to pay attention to the road. You do that mostly with your eyes, not your ears.

Even with hands-free, if you're having an interactive conversation, ie one where you sit there and have to think about what to say and respond to the person, then you're not thinking about the road and you're suddenly the most dangerous thing around you. Studies show it, and if you were honest with yourself you wouldn't need the studies, because you would know it just from _doing_ it.

Being able to sell something is _not_ the tried and true acid test of "ownership". For instance, property law has been invoked. Did you know that some kinds of property are regulated in terms of who you can sell them to? And that other kinds of property simply cannot be sold, to anyone?

Ok, maybe property law is too far from IP. Did you ever read the shrinkwrap on 99.9% of the software you buy? Did you read the license you get with your beloved physical CD's? Your use of the materials is limited in both cases, and in many cases specifically disallowes resale.

Now, the interesting thing to note here is that these are license agreements we're talking about here. License agreements, not laws. Saying "you can do XYZ with foo but you can't do it with bar" should really be parsed as saying that the vendor who provides you with the property requires that you enter into an agreement with them about what use you can make of that property. And there is _all_ kinds of interesting legal precedents showing that these agreements may not be valid, _even if you agreed to them_. Specific EULA's have been tested and found to have portions that were simply not enforceable, due to their not being common practice.

To bring it back to concrete examples, MS could put a clause in their EULA saying that by installing their software, you're agreeing that MS has the right to enter your home to inspect that you're using it in a validly licensed fashion. However, such a clause would be unenforceable, even if you clicked "Accept" after reading it.

So, do you own your ITMS music _more_ than you own subscription music? Well, if you stop paying for your subscription, the music stops playing, right? This is technology that does this, not law. If Apple were to for some reason try and revoke your right to play tracks you bought on ITMS, it doesn't follow that you would lose the ability to play them, because they would have to bring a case in court against you and get judges agree that this is a reasonable clause of their EULA.

IOW, it should be obvious on the face of it that there is a significant difference in the level of ownership you get from ITMS music and subscription music.

James

Seems like I see more and more link spamming on these Engadget threads... (post #2)