Re: What's to look forward to?
>>"Compare, f'rinstance, the price of a gigabit switch today with 10 years ago."
Three problems with your analogy. Firstly, this product hasn't changed in ten years. A Gb switch is still a Gb switch. There is no active development, no research costs to recoup - any changes are trivial and unnecessary. Secondly, ten years ago it was modern technology whereas today we're now seeing 10Gb switches! I could buy a laptop with specs from ten years ago and expect the price to be massively lower - commoditized as you say. But I don't because I want something that has kept pace with the rest of the world. Thirdly, it requires no care or updates.
Saying that something which hasn't changed in ten years and needs no support is a good analogy for OSs is badly mistaken. Unless you're arguing that modern OSs are pretty much the same as they were ten years ago. In which case I invite you to have a quick read here (n.b. it may take you a while).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
