Excellent news. Looks like I'll be buying my first netbook when these come out. 3GB, SSD, and 3G.

-Nick

I travel all over the country for work. I have a data card & an iPhone with AT&T. Generally speaking, I don't have the same problems I hear most people complain about - mainly that AT&T sucks. I usually find 3g, it usually works quickly, and I usually have nothing to complain about. It's at least within what I'd deem acceptable considering it's cellular.

However, the NY area is horrendous. Dropped calls, 4 or 5 3G 'bars' but consistent "data network could not be activated" messages. An inability to even get a text through at times. No 'bars' much of the rest of the time depending on location.

The thing is, I'm not sure why everyone gets their panties in a bunch about this. There are definitely pure coverage issues - areas where you consistently get little to no signal. However, they also very clearly network saturation issues. I was consistently in the same hotel room with an unusable data card and then as traffic subsided in the later evening hours, things started working fine.

If I had to be in NYC all the time, I would at the very least be switching the data card to Verizon.

For the record, this most recent experience was over the last 3 weeks before MMS went live. The logical conclusion is that it will get worse in the short term.

-Nick

MP3's ARE NOT the same as full CD's. And full CD's were of course not the same as analog vinyl recordings. Once you start sampling and compressing you're stripping out subtleties.

The real problem however isn't the bits being lost between the two. As someone pointed out...many of the two (lossless from a CD & sampled MP3's) now unfortunately do sound quite the same. This is because as recording studios recognized that most people are only ever hearing it in MP3 lossy format the original recording quality was ignored. Instead they're turning to 'ear catching' tricks like amping up the master volume and flattening the sound stage as a result because your ipod, mp3, and cheap earbuds will never be able to distinguish.

That's the real tragedy and what depresses me most about mp3's. I'm sure it wasn't an intended consequence, but it's become one nonetheless. I get the purpose, love my iphone with tons of albums on it (I travel a ton), love the reason behind compression (historically storage was a pricey, limiting factor), but I'm afraid that even as storage in bulk gets desperately cheap, the art is being lost.

I still buy CD's in bulk and I agree with someone else's post that Amazon is my clear choice. With a prime membership and free 2 day shipping it's a no brainer. I also appreciate that smaller labels and more and more 'indie' music is releasing on vinyl as a sign that their original mastering probably was more carefully done.

I also rip everything to flac format (which offers about 50% compression over CD with no loss of quality) and I stream it all over my house. I love it because I listen to a ton more stuff than I ever would if I had to go back and forth to the CD rack. You can enjoy technology without making the compromise.

It should be loud because you cranked it up, not because someone turned up the master volume and bled everything together. Educate people! Music is a beautiful thing.

-Nick

Whoop, whoop, an OS I actually want to upgrade and install! Hook me up...

Hotness! Probably will be my first netbook with the 3g option and 6cell battery. Anyone know how hard it will be to replace the drive with an SSD? I don't want a netbook with a regular HD.

-Nick

Would have preferred to see a donation made to charity in the bars name - AA perhaps? I agree you can spend your money on anything you want...but if you're trying to make a point, why not make a better one?

-Nick

Very cool. I'm sure people had the same reactions about skyscrapers before they became the norm. Personally, if I could live in an efficient community with most of what I needed within walking or easy transport I'd be game.

I read over there that Grand Rapids Wood TV8 is in HD now. Funny, I was just discussing this with the DirecTV installer this weekend. Awesome.

I didn't realize this was a known issue. I have the same problem with mine. Guess I'll have to swing by the apple store and see if they'll fix it. The problem is that I removed the piece as far as it had stripped to keep it from getting any worse. That'll probably make it my problem.

Great. Way to go Verizon. Their ridiculous decisions about feature restrictions and phones is only outdone by their superior coverage and customer service (in my experience). It's unfortunate to have to make a compromise, but I guess I'm stuck with actually getting my calls.

Nick