The reasons are varied of course, but at its core the changes are coming about as a directreaction to many of the things older generations held sacrosanct.
This is because their promoters want to create a different rationale for investment, a directreaction against the excesses of Wall St and the City, which in turn is an opportunity for people to invest money for returns that might not be measured only in dollars.
Ministers know they need to switch the burden of tax from fuel to direct charges such as motorway tolls or urban congestion charging, but fear voters' reaction.
Ahmad Fahim Qayem, commander of the Afghan Interior Ministry quick-reaction force whose primary responsibility is to deal with such attacks, rushed to direct the response.
Somehow we suspect that, if any of these companies make a run at Microsoft, they're going to face a reaction that makes Apple's successful defense of the Tiger brand against Tiger Direct look meek by comparison.