DRM
There is an important issue affecting the consumer electronics world. New devices that are made and sold to the consumer will be unilaterally controlled by the creators of the device. What this means is that the next wave of products will not allow you to do things that they don't want you to do. case a: Tivo is making boxes that wont let you skip commercials, or will play its own commercials while you are skipping the broadcasted ones. In the past you could buy a Tivo and put your own software on it and do what you want. Now you can't. case b: You bought a CD/DVD and want to put the music/video on your iPod. In the past you could do this. In the future, you will have to buy a seperate copy for your iPod.* case c: You can try to copy the music as above and if it doesn't work, oh well. In the future, if you try to do this, the RIAA will be notified every time you try. If you try to disable the monitoring system, your computer will fail to turn on.* *When I say ...