On a semi-unrelated topic, I just watched
Who Killed the Electric Car?. At least with printers, it's just the printer companies trying to be monopolistic. What goes on with other industries makes the computer industry seem like altruistic non-profits.
I really dug that movie. You have to take it with a big grain of salt, as it's very biased (naturally), but there are definite facts it presents that can't be ignored. The biggest one for me being "why did GM insist on taking back all the leased vehicles to scrap them?"
There is one main reason for them taking it back, to avoid losing more money on the vehicle. If they didn't take the vehicles back they would have been legally obligated to provide a part supply chain (for 15 years in the state of California) to service them. Since there were only about 800 leased that hardly makes any economic sense. Couple that with the price of the line and the limited number that were being leased, it makes perfect sense to get them off the road and shutter that line as soon as possible.
The experience GM gained during that program along with advances in technology directly lead to the Volt, which is due out this year. I hardly think they can be called the bad guy in this case.
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