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Dude, yer gettin' a recall
Aug. 14th, 2006 09:49 pmDell Corp is recalling 4 million laptop batteries. This is not surprising to me, given the dramatic photos making their way through the 'net of late showing a fire-belching laptop doing it's best to pwn an unsuspecting conference. Kudos to Dell for taking on such a huge undertaking.
People demand more and more processing horsepower out of their portable gadgets, at the same time expecting the batteries to last longer than ever. For the most part, the various industries have done a decent job on both fronts. Thing is, people don't realize the sheer amount of energy that's packing in those relatively small battery packs. As long as everything goes according to plan, the batteries do their job with no fanfare or dramatics. It's when the built-in safety measures, charging and current control circuits or just plain defective cells start bustin' loose that the fireworks happen. Literally.
Now, let's couple this with the travel paranoia du jour of bombs on airplanes and you have the makings of a potential uberdisaster. Should someone's laptop battery erupt in flames in the passenger compartment, it's a relatively easy task to douse the flames with a typical fire extinguisher once the crowd is under control. Having one blow in the cargo hold among the baggage can be much worse. And since the TSA is recommending that people stow their electronics in checked baggage these days, the potential for fire in the hole is there more than ever. My take? No laptops or electronics at all on airplanes if that occurs or is hinted about.
Give me Snakes on a Plane any day.
People demand more and more processing horsepower out of their portable gadgets, at the same time expecting the batteries to last longer than ever. For the most part, the various industries have done a decent job on both fronts. Thing is, people don't realize the sheer amount of energy that's packing in those relatively small battery packs. As long as everything goes according to plan, the batteries do their job with no fanfare or dramatics. It's when the built-in safety measures, charging and current control circuits or just plain defective cells start bustin' loose that the fireworks happen. Literally.
Now, let's couple this with the travel paranoia du jour of bombs on airplanes and you have the makings of a potential uberdisaster. Should someone's laptop battery erupt in flames in the passenger compartment, it's a relatively easy task to douse the flames with a typical fire extinguisher once the crowd is under control. Having one blow in the cargo hold among the baggage can be much worse. And since the TSA is recommending that people stow their electronics in checked baggage these days, the potential for fire in the hole is there more than ever. My take? No laptops or electronics at all on airplanes if that occurs or is hinted about.
Give me Snakes on a Plane any day.
