For the home user, I don't see much of a barrier to Linux adoption, other than inertia (unless you are a gamer, in which case, we are back to the "which OS supports the software I want to use?" question).
Things are looking up for Linux gaming with Steam announcing support and future ports.
I must say though, that Macs (or Hackintoshes for the more adventurous) are a better idea for almost everyone, including software developers. A high quality desktop, lack of fiddling with hardware issues, and commercial software availability are the main reasons. I hope Apple finally comes out with the xMac (lower end mini? tower using regular i7s, lots of memory, high end graphics cards) along with the upcoming new Mac Pro announcement.
I was using Gnome3 regularly, but recently switched to Mate which I like much better. Nosing around just now, I see there's a Cinnamon desktop that might be worth investigation. However, nothing I've tried on Linux has come close to the quality of the overall Mac desktop user experience.
It seems to me Republicans have two big issues - demographics; that is Caucasian people are a decreasing percentage of voters, and they have a social platform that is becoming increasingly unpopular with women.
Romney has been skyrocketing in terms of female popularity lately...
You can't win with so much of the electorate unhappy with your policies.
You fixed it about as well as the average illiterate illegal alien writes a doctoral thesis. Good job?
Meanwhile, Romney will in fact clean 0's clock come election day. Sadly, we currently only have two choices for President in this country, and 0 is a complete disgrace. Too bad, so sad...I guess he'll have to suffer as a one-percenter living a life of luxury in Hawaii.
At least there are plenty of golf courses there...
Arguably, you are quite disconnected from reality.:-)
I wouldn't go as far as the GP did and declare the iPad irrelevant but its days of being the tail that wags the dog are numbered for sure. Just like with what is happening in the smartphone space.
I don't think I agree with either premise.
No iPad-sized tablet is even close in marketshare, and the only 7" tablet to ship in volume, the Kindle Fire, is more a media consumption device than an app target.
As to the smartphone space, if you look at what developers are excited to support (because of potential profit) the iPhone remains dominant, with no viable competitors.
No, they just want developers to pay them for the privilege of writing software for Apple products. See, for example, the $99/year fee for permission to write iOS applications.
There is no such fee. There is a $100 fee if you want to a) download your app to a device instead of using the simulator, and b) sell your app on the App Store.
I wish I had mod points. This is far from a simple case, Apple has many good points here.
If Android were based on Windows rather than Linux, I bet many/. folk would be singing a different tune. I remain bemused at their unquestioning love for Java in Android.;-)
How about three different convictions or case settling of price fixing? Samsung has paid over a billion dollars in settlements or fines for price fixing in the DRAM, LCD display, and mobile phone markets.
But they've got a nice shiny halo over their heads around here for reasons passing understanding.
Agreed, except the reasons aren't "passing understanding". To wit, there is a large contingent here to which Linux and FOSS are holy, and Apple is evil for actually making money with its products. They can't seem to understand that the reason that Apple's products are so nice, is because the company has a lot of R&D dollars to throw at its products because it's profitable.
Evidently they also can't understand that Samsung (and the rest of the Android crowd) are profiting by blatantly copying iOS and Apple hardware - which also happens to be blatantly illegal.
Sorry Samsung - time to fork over big money in penalties and licensing arrangements. There are probably a few other companies (Google!) that'll get the same treatment.
True. His death isn't what brought about the end an "optimistic era." The government butchering NASA's budget had already accomplished that. Curious what his thoughts were on what has become of the agency.
Government funding of NASA has little to do with optimism. Go SpaceX!
I'm highly optimistic. Now all we need is enough optimism to build nuclear powered spacecraft. Perhaps the nuclear powered Curiosity rover will provide some inspiration!
(For that matter, we need a major buildout of next-generation nuclear power plants here on Earth!)
RIP, Neil Armstrong! You did indeed provide "one giant leap for mankind"!
I think that's one of the cleanest statements about why some people don't like Apple. Things cost.
Actually, I'm pretty sure what he's trying to imply is that I'm a paid shill. LOL
At any rate, I agree with what you wrote. As the saying goes "Linux is free if your time is worth nothing.". I like Linux, and use it quite a bit, but it is still quite rough around the edges even after many years of tinkering.
The Mac is the closest thing to "it just works", plus the focus on the UI experience has paid dividends. I hope Apple comes out with the xMac (small tower, high-powered i5s to i7s, large RAM expansion, high-end video card option, external monitor) along with the coming Mac Pro refresh. I think that would attract a whole lot of/. types, as well as providing a better value proposition than the iMacs.
The new MacBook Pros are really nice, I'll have to pick one up at some point.
Hah! That's quite a clueless statement. I know many highly technical folk, and almost all have at least one Apple product - including myself.
Macs in particular are really the sweet spot in computers today. Excellent hardware, Unix based OS, great bundled apps, run the most software of any computer, generally painless to support and access to first-tier commercial apps. What a refreshing change from Windows!
I also have both, and my take is somewhat different.
People have different levels of tolerance for backlight. If I'm not outside (and I read indoors most of the time), I like the large screen and format of the "new iPad" (why the heck they didn't call it the iPad 3 is beyond me...). I prefer the true "black on white" appearance, and color is a big plus with some material. The iPad has plenty of battery life in general. Of course the other factor that's nice about the iPad is that it's useful for a whole lot of things beyond just reading - though its price reflects that as well.
I also like the Kindle Touch, and it is the clear winner for outdoor reading. The battery life is great. I really, really wish that the screen was much closer to looking like paper. I'm not a fan of the "black on gray" look at all. It's acceptable, but that's all. Other than that, the Kindle Touch is a great value and certainly works "well enough".
Romney has a clearly laid out plan for what he wants to do. You may not like the plan, but he has one.
No he fucking hasn't. He's said, "Obama sucks" and "I'm going to repeal the ACA". That's it. He has NOT put forth any kind of plan whatsoever.
You do some searching before you make such obviously clueless statements: The Romney/Ryan plan.
Meanwhile Obama and Democrats in general have failed to produce a budget for THREE FUCKING YEARS. How can you vote for that kind of nonsense?
The Republicans in Congress are just as guilty.
Are you really so uninformed as to not know that 0bama had a majority in the House for his first two years? If so, you shouldn't be posting on this topic.
At this point we just need someone that will pick a direction and go there. Right now it seems far more likely Romney will do so than Obama, especially based on past history. Romney inherited a badly run Olympics and made it work; Obama inherited a bad economy and made it worse.
False, and false. You cannot say Romney has any kind of direction, especially given the proven inconsistencies between him now and him even a few years ago.
I believe Romney will stick with his stated path, as there will be a lot of upside to doing so, and no downside.
On the other hand, if you want to discuss a politician that's failed to come through on his campaign promises, there's always 0bama. Just another of the many reasons he'll be out of a job come November.
And just about all leading economists agree that the economy is far better than when Obama inherited it.
Quit with the uncited lies. It's getting annoying.
LOL! This has been the weakest recovery from a recession since the Great Depression, and you're touting 0bama's approach? What he's proven beyond a reasonable doubt is that his ideas are bankrupt, figuratively and literally.
America needs better, and R&R will provide that come Election Day. I hope you can cope.;-)
Same for anyone who opposes raising taxes on the rich.
It's sad to see the ignorance that pervades American society these days.
The main issue isn't raising taxes on the "rich", it's raising taxes on "small businesses" which pay using the same tax tables.
What do you think will happen if those rates are raised? Why, those small business will either fail, or they will pass their increased costs on to the consumer - meaning all the "poor" folk buying their products. That is both inflationary, and regressive. Both factors would work as a brake on the economy, retarding growth.
Increasing tax rates in such a manner is stupid, plain and simple. Even 0bama agreed a couple of years ago that eliminating the "Bush tax cuts" would hurt the economy. The question is, what's changed between then and now, exactly? The cuts should be made permanent.
(BTW, the other point regarding the "rich" is that they have several options to avoid higher tax rates, including simply spending their money rather than trying to make more. They might also decide that leaving the country with their fortunes is suddenly looking a lot more attractive.)
You don't seriously believe trickle-down economics actually work, do you?
Of course it does, but also of course there are other factors like government regulation.
It may interest you to know that with the incredibly high unemployment in the US right now, and the rampant foreclosures and bankruptcy in the working class, the NYSE is trading at record highs, and corporate income is higher than it was 5 years ago...
The only reason the stock market has tracked higher is the interventionist policy of the Fed. It is also true that those policies have (so far) avoided real backlash from the public over retirement accounts being decimated.
However, the interest-free loans of billions of dollars to fat-cat bankers from the corrupt 0bama administration is one of the factors that will see him booted from office with extreme prejudice come November. He is more of a flunky of Wall Street than any president in memory.
What we need are policies limiting government spending while encouraging economic growth. That is what the R & R ticket offers, and is the opposite of what 0 is pushing.
The economy is not a zero-sum game. Sufficient economic growth will result in increased total revenues, even at reduced tax rates.
The F-22 is operational now, and completely wipes the F-35 on at least two fronts - supercruise and all-aspect stealth. It also has a worthy air-to-ground role, carrying up to four small diameter bombs or a single 1,000 lb JDAM per weapon bay. Finally, with two engines it has a margin of safety that the F-35 can't match.
With F-35 costs spiraling out of control, the F-22 is looking to be quite a bargain at around the same cost per airframe.
Let me preface this by saying the F-22 is awesome, but the JSF isn't supposed to match the Raptor in super cruise or stealth. The point of the F-35 is to replace the F-18 for the Navy, the Harrier for the Marines, and the F-16 for the Air Force. It's essentially supposed to be a cheap aircraft with respectable characteristics to replace the aging aircraft aforementioned.
Granted, and the F-35 has a place. I'm sure a lot of Navy pilots are nervous about a single-engine carrier fighter, though.
I'm not advocating replacing the F-35 with the F-22. I'm advocating going with a more balanced mix. It'd be interesting to see what it would take to retrofit carrier capability to the F-22. It would make a nice replacement for the F-14 - the Navy currently has nothing like it.
As for the F-35 being a "cheap" aircraft, it has become the poster boy for the opposite. Pretty sad.
The F-22 production line should be restarted, with limited exports allowed to Japan and Australia. Also, some portion (probably about 1/4) of F-35 production should be replaced by F-22 production.
The F-22 is operational now, and completely wipes the F-35 on at least two fronts - supercruise and all-aspect stealth. It also has a worthy air-to-ground role, carrying up to four small diameter bombs or a single 1,000 lb JDAM per weapon bay. Finally, with two engines it has a margin of safety that the F-35 can't match.
With F-35 costs spiraling out of control, the F-22 is looking to be quite a bargain at around the same cost per airframe.
These private companies can build their 'cheap' rockets because they're bootstrapping with the results of hundreds of millions in 60s NASA cast offs.
Not "cast offs", but where you're right is that SpaceX in particular leveraged the research done in the 60's to settle on a kerosene+LOX design.
That simply made sense, as opposed to, say, solid boosters. A lot more environmentally friendly as well.
My opinion is that NASA needs to largely get out of the spacecraft design business, they're far too inefficient. Let them supply "big picture" design goals, then let efficient, innovative, hungry companies like SpaceX compete to satisfy them.
I can't wait to see the first "assembled in orbit, nuclear powered interplanetary vehicles" (and lunar transports) start to take shape.
The first country to perfect nuclear interplanetary spacecraft will own the Solar System. I hope it's not China.
After all, $CHOICE can't $BUZZWORD1, at least not without support for $BUZZWORD2.
Once $CHOICE supports those, then maybe it'll be better in all cases.
Brilliant! I'm quite sure the next version of Oracle will include "Oracle® $uperNoSQL extensions", making it the obvious choice for ANY database application whatever. (At least if you're willing to sell your house to pay for the license.)
What these comments are dancing around is that if 0bama is reelected, businesses will continue to face the same disastrous approach to the economy we have now, along with a massive tax hike. The US will likely continue with the Great Depression II in that case.
On the other hand, if Romney is elected, the country has a fighting chance to recover.
That's how it works on the iPhone and iPad, so it follows that it's how it will work on the Macbook Pro. That said, an application which supports the higher resolution display might be able to scale down so that you can fit more things on the screen, if that's what you want. I'm thinking particularly of terminal windows, but browsing could work too.
Apple has had resolution-independence for a while, but developers haven't been using it (from what I understand.)
Apps will require work and a new release to support the new display. Pictures, for instance, can use the full retina display resolution, so you'll be able to see a lot more of your full-res dSLR photo on screen at once. I expect the system font will be a bit smaller due to the sharper text.
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For the home user, I don't see much of a barrier to Linux adoption, other than inertia (unless you are a gamer, in which case, we are back to the "which OS supports the software I want to use?" question).
Things are looking up for Linux gaming with Steam announcing support and future ports.
I must say though, that Macs (or Hackintoshes for the more adventurous) are a better idea for almost everyone, including software developers. A high quality desktop, lack of fiddling with hardware issues, and commercial software availability are the main reasons. I hope Apple finally comes out with the xMac (lower end mini? tower using regular i7s, lots of memory, high end graphics cards) along with the upcoming new Mac Pro announcement.
I was using Gnome3 regularly, but recently switched to Mate which I like much better. Nosing around just now, I see there's a Cinnamon desktop that might be worth investigation. However, nothing I've tried on Linux has come close to the quality of the overall Mac desktop user experience.
It seems to me Republicans have two big issues - demographics; that is Caucasian people are a decreasing percentage of voters, and they have a social platform that is becoming increasingly unpopular with women.
Romney has been skyrocketing in terms of female popularity lately...
You can't win with so much of the electorate unhappy with your policies.
I presume you're talking about 0bama? heh
He's in for some hurt come November! :-)
FTFY.
You fixed it about as well as the average illiterate illegal alien writes a doctoral thesis. Good job?
Meanwhile, Romney will in fact clean 0's clock come election day. Sadly, we currently only have two choices for President in this country, and 0 is a complete disgrace. Too bad, so sad...I guess he'll have to suffer as a one-percenter living a life of luxury in Hawaii.
At least there are plenty of golf courses there...
Arguably, you are quite disconnected from reality. :-)
I wouldn't go as far as the GP did and declare the iPad irrelevant but its days of being the tail that wags the dog are numbered for sure. Just like with what is happening in the smartphone space.
I don't think I agree with either premise.
No iPad-sized tablet is even close in marketshare, and the only 7" tablet to ship in volume, the Kindle Fire, is more a media consumption device than an app target.
As to the smartphone space, if you look at what developers are excited to support (because of potential profit) the iPhone remains dominant, with no viable competitors.
So far it's game, set, match in favor of Apple.
No, they just want developers to pay them for the privilege of writing software for Apple products. See, for example, the $99/year fee for permission to write iOS applications.
There is no such fee. There is a $100 fee if you want to a) download your app to a device instead of using the simulator, and b) sell your app on the App Store.
Just to be clear. ;-)
Yep. The clueless seem to have all the mod points around here right now. :-)
The iPad is irrelevant, soon to be eclipsed (no pun intended) by all things Android. Arguably, this has already happened.
Arguably, you are quite disconnected from reality. :-)
What's the difference between an Android tablet docked to mouse, keyboard and 1080p screen and a "bigger computer"?
Lack of memory, storage, screen real estate (2560x1920) and CPU/GPU power. :-)
I wish I had mod points. This is far from a simple case, Apple has many good points here.
If Android were based on Windows rather than Linux, I bet many /. folk would be singing a different tune. I remain bemused at their unquestioning love for Java in Android. ;-)
How about three different convictions or case settling of price fixing? Samsung has paid over a billion dollars in settlements or fines for price fixing in the DRAM, LCD display, and mobile phone markets.
But they've got a nice shiny halo over their heads around here for reasons passing understanding.
Agreed, except the reasons aren't "passing understanding". To wit, there is a large contingent here to which Linux and FOSS are holy, and Apple is evil for actually making money with its products. They can't seem to understand that the reason that Apple's products are so nice, is because the company has a lot of R&D dollars to throw at its products because it's profitable.
Evidently they also can't understand that Samsung (and the rest of the Android crowd) are profiting by blatantly copying iOS and Apple hardware - which also happens to be blatantly illegal.
Sorry Samsung - time to fork over big money in penalties and licensing arrangements. There are probably a few other companies (Google!) that'll get the same treatment.
True. His death isn't what brought about the end an "optimistic era." The government butchering NASA's budget had already accomplished that. Curious what his thoughts were on what has become of the agency.
Government funding of NASA has little to do with optimism. Go SpaceX!
I'm highly optimistic. Now all we need is enough optimism to build nuclear powered spacecraft. Perhaps the nuclear powered Curiosity rover will provide some inspiration!
(For that matter, we need a major buildout of next-generation nuclear power plants here on Earth!)
RIP, Neil Armstrong! You did indeed provide "one giant leap for mankind"!
I think that's one of the cleanest statements about why some people don't like Apple. Things cost.
Actually, I'm pretty sure what he's trying to imply is that I'm a paid shill. LOL
At any rate, I agree with what you wrote. As the saying goes "Linux is free if your time is worth nothing.". I like Linux, and use it quite a bit, but it is still quite rough around the edges even after many years of tinkering.
The Mac is the closest thing to "it just works", plus the focus on the UI experience has paid dividends. I hope Apple comes out with the xMac (small tower, high-powered i5s to i7s, large RAM expansion, high-end video card option, external monitor) along with the coming Mac Pro refresh. I think that would attract a whole lot of /. types, as well as providing a better value proposition than the iMacs.
The new MacBook Pros are really nice, I'll have to pick one up at some point.
Hah! That's quite a clueless statement. I know many highly technical folk, and almost all have at least one Apple product - including myself.
Macs in particular are really the sweet spot in computers today. Excellent hardware, Unix based OS, great bundled apps, run the most software of any computer, generally painless to support and access to first-tier commercial apps. What a refreshing change from Windows!
The beauty of using a device is you can carry a large library around with you without breaking your back. ;-)
I also have both, and my take is somewhat different.
People have different levels of tolerance for backlight. If I'm not outside (and I read indoors most of the time), I like the large screen and format of the "new iPad" (why the heck they didn't call it the iPad 3 is beyond me...). I prefer the true "black on white" appearance, and color is a big plus with some material. The iPad has plenty of battery life in general. Of course the other factor that's nice about the iPad is that it's useful for a whole lot of things beyond just reading - though its price reflects that as well.
I also like the Kindle Touch, and it is the clear winner for outdoor reading. The battery life is great. I really, really wish that the screen was much closer to looking like paper. I'm not a fan of the "black on gray" look at all. It's acceptable, but that's all. Other than that, the Kindle Touch is a great value and certainly works "well enough".
Romney has a clearly laid out plan for what he wants to do. You may not like the plan, but he has one.
No he fucking hasn't. He's said, "Obama sucks" and "I'm going to repeal the ACA". That's it. He has NOT put forth any kind of plan whatsoever.
You do some searching before you make such obviously clueless statements: The Romney/Ryan plan.
Meanwhile Obama and Democrats in general have failed to produce a budget for THREE FUCKING YEARS. How can you vote for that kind of nonsense?
The Republicans in Congress are just as guilty.
Are you really so uninformed as to not know that 0bama had a majority in the House for his first two years? If so, you shouldn't be posting on this topic.
At this point we just need someone that will pick a direction and go there. Right now it seems far more likely Romney will do so than Obama, especially based on past history. Romney inherited a badly run Olympics and made it work; Obama inherited a bad economy and made it worse.
False, and false. You cannot say Romney has any kind of direction, especially given the proven inconsistencies between him now and him even a few years ago.
I believe Romney will stick with his stated path, as there will be a lot of upside to doing so, and no downside.
On the other hand, if you want to discuss a politician that's failed to come through on his campaign promises, there's always 0bama. Just another of the many reasons he'll be out of a job come November.
And just about all leading economists agree that the economy is far better than when Obama inherited it.
Quit with the uncited lies. It's getting annoying.
LOL! This has been the weakest recovery from a recession since the Great Depression, and you're touting 0bama's approach? What he's proven beyond a reasonable doubt is that his ideas are bankrupt, figuratively and literally.
America needs better, and R&R will provide that come Election Day. I hope you can cope. ;-)
Same for anyone who opposes raising taxes on the rich.
It's sad to see the ignorance that pervades American society these days.
The main issue isn't raising taxes on the "rich", it's raising taxes on "small businesses" which pay using the same tax tables.
What do you think will happen if those rates are raised? Why, those small business will either fail, or they will pass their increased costs on to the consumer - meaning all the "poor" folk buying their products. That is both inflationary, and regressive. Both factors would work as a brake on the economy, retarding growth.
Increasing tax rates in such a manner is stupid, plain and simple. Even 0bama agreed a couple of years ago that eliminating the "Bush tax cuts" would hurt the economy. The question is, what's changed between then and now, exactly? The cuts should be made permanent.
(BTW, the other point regarding the "rich" is that they have several options to avoid higher tax rates, including simply spending their money rather than trying to make more. They might also decide that leaving the country with their fortunes is suddenly looking a lot more attractive.)
You don't seriously believe trickle-down economics actually work, do you?
Of course it does, but also of course there are other factors like government regulation.
It may interest you to know that with the incredibly high unemployment in the US right now, and the rampant foreclosures and bankruptcy in the working class, the NYSE is trading at record highs, and corporate income is higher than it was 5 years ago...
The only reason the stock market has tracked higher is the interventionist policy of the Fed. It is also true that those policies have (so far) avoided real backlash from the public over retirement accounts being decimated.
However, the interest-free loans of billions of dollars to fat-cat bankers from the corrupt 0bama administration is one of the factors that will see him booted from office with extreme prejudice come November. He is more of a flunky of Wall Street than any president in memory.
What we need are policies limiting government spending while encouraging economic growth. That is what the R & R ticket offers, and is the opposite of what 0 is pushing.
The economy is not a zero-sum game. Sufficient economic growth will result in increased total revenues, even at reduced tax rates.
Hah! And how has that Apple strategy worked out, exactly?
Oh, that's right, Apple is the most profitable large tech company, and the most highly capitalized company on the stock market.
You're right, Sony could learn a lot from Apple's strategy!
The F-22 is operational now, and completely wipes the F-35 on at least two fronts - supercruise and all-aspect stealth. It also has a worthy air-to-ground role, carrying up to four small diameter bombs or a single 1,000 lb JDAM per weapon bay. Finally, with two engines it has a margin of safety that the F-35 can't match.
With F-35 costs spiraling out of control, the F-22 is looking to be quite a bargain at around the same cost per airframe.
Let me preface this by saying the F-22 is awesome, but the JSF isn't supposed to match the Raptor in super cruise or stealth. The point of the F-35 is to replace the F-18 for the Navy, the Harrier for the Marines, and the F-16 for the Air Force. It's essentially supposed to be a cheap aircraft with respectable characteristics to replace the aging aircraft aforementioned.
Granted, and the F-35 has a place. I'm sure a lot of Navy pilots are nervous about a single-engine carrier fighter, though.
I'm not advocating replacing the F-35 with the F-22. I'm advocating going with a more balanced mix. It'd be interesting to see what it would take to retrofit carrier capability to the F-22. It would make a nice replacement for the F-14 - the Navy currently has nothing like it.
As for the F-35 being a "cheap" aircraft, it has become the poster boy for the opposite. Pretty sad.
The F-22 production line should be restarted, with limited exports allowed to Japan and Australia. Also, some portion (probably about 1/4) of F-35 production should be replaced by F-22 production.
The F-22 is operational now, and completely wipes the F-35 on at least two fronts - supercruise and all-aspect stealth. It also has a worthy air-to-ground role, carrying up to four small diameter bombs or a single 1,000 lb JDAM per weapon bay. Finally, with two engines it has a margin of safety that the F-35 can't match.
With F-35 costs spiraling out of control, the F-22 is looking to be quite a bargain at around the same cost per airframe.
These private companies can build their 'cheap' rockets because they're bootstrapping with the results of hundreds of millions in 60s NASA cast offs.
Not "cast offs", but where you're right is that SpaceX in particular leveraged the research done in the 60's to settle on a kerosene+LOX design.
That simply made sense, as opposed to, say, solid boosters. A lot more environmentally friendly as well.
My opinion is that NASA needs to largely get out of the spacecraft design business, they're far too inefficient. Let them supply "big picture" design goals, then let efficient, innovative, hungry companies like SpaceX compete to satisfy them.
I can't wait to see the first "assembled in orbit, nuclear powered interplanetary vehicles" (and lunar transports) start to take shape.
The first country to perfect nuclear interplanetary spacecraft will own the Solar System. I hope it's not China.
After all, $CHOICE can't $BUZZWORD1, at least not without support for $BUZZWORD2.
Once $CHOICE supports those, then maybe it'll be better in all cases.
Brilliant! I'm quite sure the next version of Oracle will include "Oracle® $uperNoSQL extensions", making it the obvious choice for ANY database application whatever. (At least if you're willing to sell your house to pay for the license.)
What these comments are dancing around is that if 0bama is reelected, businesses will continue to face the same disastrous approach to the economy we have now, along with a massive tax hike. The US will likely continue with the Great Depression II in that case.
On the other hand, if Romney is elected, the country has a fighting chance to recover.
That's how it works on the iPhone and iPad, so it follows that it's how it will work on the Macbook Pro. That said, an application which supports the higher resolution display might be able to scale down so that you can fit more things on the screen, if that's what you want. I'm thinking particularly of terminal windows, but browsing could work too.
Apple has had resolution-independence for a while, but developers haven't been using it (from what I understand.)
Apps will require work and a new release to support the new display. Pictures, for instance, can use the full retina display resolution, so you'll be able to see a lot more of your full-res dSLR photo on screen at once. I expect the system font will be a bit smaller due to the sharper text.