I tend to agree with most of the criticisms. I don’t know if I’m out for the count, but I think it make go the way of Orkut in the US.

I would really love to hear your perspective on how the Google-Italy ruling violated EU privacy laws, as I have no knowledge of what they entail. I think, however, most readers are familiar with how such a ruling runs counter to American Constitutional principles — i.e., the 1st Amendment.

If possible, I would also really appreciate it if you could share some insight into how internet content hosted in other countries is considered in European courts.

Thanks again, Mark, and I’m looking forward to reading your explanation!

I had no idea that Europe had no universal credit rating system; that’s extremely interesting. Are individuals responsible, then, for relating their financial history to a relevant party every time they make a large purchase — e.g., a home, a car, something really expensive? I imagine this must either be a logistical nightmare, and/or open a whole area within the financial services industry devoted to documenting people’s credit. It seems as though this would be inefficient; perhaps I’m stating the obvious. I really don’t know much about this, and would love to hear more.

Thanks again, Repatriate, and I hope to hear back from you.

It’s actually pretty interesting how different European and American ideologies are, in terms of the different policies they create that regulate media, despite how many values are shared among different nations in Western society. For me, how the dichotomy plays out is strange, especially considering how liberal European media is with publishing nude photographs (and similarly lascivious content) in mass media.

I, too, shared your surprise about how that photograph of Dumas was considered. But, times were different then, and how people perceived sexuality was particularly prude. I, for one, was surprised about Dumas’ purported hyper-sexuality, though I suppose it should come as no shock that the writer of The Man in the Iron Mask had salacious inclinations. :)

Separately, I apologize for the wrongly labeled comments on the post; it’s a kink (no reference to Dumas intended) that I have yet to work out.

btw– I can’t believe that Dumas photo was considered scandalous…?!

And secondly, thanks for throwing your support behind my position on video phone functionality; I appreciate it. I had no idea that in both Europe and Asia there are phones with video calling capabilities. It seems as though you’re truly “living in the future.”

I do think, however, that there are definite logistical problems with creating a vast enough infrastructure to create carrier coverage that’s commensurate to what you have in European countries and parts of Asia (i.e., Japan and HK), where the land area is significantly smaller than the US. I wonder, though, given my experience with using a Mifi device and a laptop, whether this can be surmounted sooner than even I predict.

And separately, again I find myself alone in thinking that the size of the iPad will actually be somewhat convenient, though in a different class than phones. Perhaps I’m off in my intuitions, but I think that the iPad should be classified in an entirely different category. Imagine, for instance, that you can watch streaming video in a static position on a multimedia publication, while also scrolling through supplementary information. Needless to say, these types of publications have not been created yet, but this type of functionality would be extremely tough to do on a cell phone-sized screen.

Thanks again, Richard, and, as with others, I hope to see commenting on the blog again soon!

First of all, I agree that the iPhone has been a success and will continue to be a success. But I don’t think its success precludes the possibility of a larger product, as I think the iPad and iPhone will ultimately compete in different spaces. Instead, I think the iPad is aimed at the myriad netbooks that have emerged over the past few years. As many will note, however, the iPad is much more costly with less juicy hardware. I think, though, that the comparative advantage Apple has in design and user interface, not to mention marketing and culture development around its products, is enough to lure in most.

Secondly, I don’t think the size of an iPad is prohibitive, just as I don’t think the size of a netbook or laptop is prohibitive. I think the versatility of carrying it around will certainly be different than a cell phone, but I think it’s unique functionalities and ability to display multimedia publications will make it more desirable, at least for certain operations, than cell phones.

And thirdly, I think you might be wrong about how far we are from having video phones. This past summer, I traveled across the country with a laptop and Mifi device (essentially a wireless card that can handle up to five users at a time), and I was able to engage in video chat on my laptop while driving in the car, a fact which makes me believe that video phones/pads are not too far off.

I can’t disagree with you about their being nothing, at face value, that the iPad does better than other gadgets (like the iPhone or netbooks), but there was also nothing better at face value about iPods versus other mp3 players — except (and yes, I’m saying it again) design and user interface. These characteristics, I think, are enough to drive people not only to buy the iPad, but also to pay the premium for them.

Thanks again, Matt, and I hope to hear from you again!