Kinda, I suppose

1998, early phones had a charge that lasted 4-5 days with minimal use outside of calls, teeny-weeny B&W screen, a clock and the capability to text message (stop right there, pedants, I know that's not 100% accurate but you get my drift).

2011 we have smartphones which last maybe 2 days between charges, but we get a fat and juicy full-colour screen, internet access, GPS, games, organiser, 1000's of music tracks, video capabliity (films and video calls), email, and apps to do a squillion and one other things. Hours per day in use has probably quadrupled at the very least.

The battery in my Galaxy S2 is no larger than the one in my Nokia 2110. I don't think that's bad going, really. Go back a few more years, and you needed an althetes build to hold the damn thing to your ear for more than 5 minutes (think back to Gordon Gecko talking on the beach).

Snailesque wit

Bit slow off the mark, there. That much-overused old joke was right in there as the first comment.

I'm sure it was plutonium

Libyan or perhaps Iranian IIRC.

Anyway as I said: I'm scared of lightning; I hardly think I'm going to take to radioactive fuel rods.

Why bother innovating?

With margins of 60%+ on the iPhone they'd be fools not to milk it as hard and for as long as they possibly can. Their only risk is being horribly crushed by a falling tower of cash.

And at the end of the day they are a business (yes, iFans, a for-profit enterprise) so of course they view customers as 'moneybags'.

PT Barnum said: "There's one born every minute". He wasn't referring to fanbois, but it's oh-so very apt....

@AC

Ouch! Apple are turning into a real-life Omni Consumer Products.

iEd-209's to be out by Christmas.

Noooo, not rabbit

Eating only rabbit will kill you! According to Wiki, Rabbit Starvation is 'a form of acute malnutrition caused by excess consumption of any lean meat (e.g., rabbit)'.

Miniature pigs are the only answer. Plus, bacon.

@ YAC

I get the same effect by lying down on my desk and leaving my monitor as it is. I've had to sellotape my keyboard to the cubicle divider but it means I can catch a crafty 40 winks without attracting undue attention.

Still working on the mouse problem: something cobbled together from a metal tray and fridge magnets should do the trick

Why yes, they ARE amazing

And so comfortable and reasonably priced too. I also recommend a cool, iced Coca Cola(TM) during your gaming session, best enjoyed with McVities(TM) Hobnobs(TM).

Available from all good retailers now! Terms and conditions may apply.

Amen to that

Microsoft bod 1: Say, it seems as though everybody is moving to a widescreen display.

Microsoft bod 2: Hmmm, it seems you're correct. I know, lets put a big ribbon at the top of all our applications.

MSB1: Erm, I'm not sure you understood what I said.

MSB2: It'll work especially well in Word, because of the aspect ratio of common paper sizes.

MSB1: Riiiight. Wouldn't it be better to put the ribbon at the side of the screen?

MSB2: No.

MSB1: How about as an option? That should be relatively easy to do, surely, and would help our core customer base hugely. We did it in the past, remember?

MSB2 (with hands over ears): La, la, la, la, la.

MSB1 (quietly): I really must update my CV.

I disagree, but...

You price them as a toy and they WILL sell. By the bucketload.

Got one!

'The Homeopathy Channel'?

Seems to match your description 100%. 'Course, the more you watch, the less effective it is.

Smug git

See title.

(yes, I am jealous)

Deploy the cattle prod!

It's a good job that Sarah has left, or you (and several other commentards) would be toast.

Not tasty light-brown toast mind you, but jammed-in-the-slot, kitchen-full-of-smoke, have-to-dig-it-out-with-a-knife toast.

Well, darn

xlq (below) seems to provide a refutation. Will no one rid me of this turbulent technique?

That would be great if true...

Can some alpha-geek confirm or refute?

Every f*cking time

Every, and I mean *every* time the government puts up a shiny new website it falls over due to 'unexpected demand'.

If you can't see the problem with that statement I can only assume you are a government IT provider.

Images you can't unthink

Jobs and Bjork making the beast with two backs. Pass the mind bleach!

Still, better than Balmer and Paris ...... aaaaaaargh I've done it again.

That's Hiltonesque thinking

A more Machiavellian way of looking at it is:

As this is just an exercise in *pretending* to listen, having a boat-load of duplicate petitions means less of them actually cross the 100k barrier. As this reduces the number times they have to get off their arses and pretend to listen in the HoC, don't expect to see the copies being culled any time soon.

You called it!

All a hoax according to the beeb. Have a pint for being on the ball.

Mme.Mynkoff & sabroni

One of you needed to use the black helicopter icon. As to who, I'll leave you to argue that between yourselves.

The loser gets to wear the tinfoil hat only at weekends.

You're right - to a degree

"because that's all that matters"

Very true, and if/when the research is independently verified then I'll show a lot more interest.

However, tying yourself to a bunch of evangelical young-earth creationists does not, to my mind, give me confidence in Roy Spencer's critical faculties, or enhance his credibility as a rational, unbiased scientist. If the results had shown the opposite of what he claims to have measured, I very much doubt they'd have seen the light of day.

Fair point about the hive mind, that was a bit weird. If we start menstruating at the same time then I'll really start to worry.

Seriously?

You posted that, when the top 3 responses to my googling 'BOFH' had the answer in the google summary?

Yes, I'm aware of the irony of my wasting a post to point this out. It's Friday and I'm bored.

Master Plan

A cynic (e.g. me) might suggest that the beeb losing most of F1 to Murdoch, whilst still funding the utter crap that spews from BBC 3 (and often BBC 1) is steering public sentiment towards paying a larger license fee in the future.

As I said, only a world-weary, misanthropic cynic would think that could possibly be true. It would, however, explain the cheery reporting.

LPF?

LPF = Living on Planet Fruitbat?

Not fake

Just written by the few survivors of the blasted wastelands of 2153 and sent back in time to stop us repeating their mistakes.

I am not a rocketeer

But is this not just a matter of tweaking the nozzle geometry and O2/H2 pumping rates? Same energy out, just over a slightly longer time...

Please note title before laughing and pointing.

Thanks, Dad!

Found any use for all those wood off-cuts and old hinges yet?

am i still me?

No. You are my 63rd clone.

Behave!

Dance, monkey boy, dance

Lest we forget:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc

Would you trust this man with your $200bn business? Icon cos her monkeys had wings.

Tweet No. 2

"we're sorry about the children"

Fat. Fucking. Chance. Never has an icon been more appropriate.

Hah! I laugh at your RPGs

Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus on GOG. £5 a pop.

Unbeatably awesome value, and still fricking hilarious to play. Go on, you know you want to...