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When Bad Software Can Kill
bhoman writes "A wrist computer that tracks and calculates safe diving times and
limits for SCUBA divers had a dangerous software bug that may have been covered
up by company executives.
This SF Chronicle Article
details the problem, product, company, and some of the lawsuits.
According to the Chron article, company execs tried to cover up and
deny the problem for years, but their
official website
makes it look like they did a voluntary recall."
On the issue of punishing companies for unsafe practices like this, sometimes it's 50/50. Depends how much sway they have. I'm not anti-capitalist über-left cynical jaded moron, but after reading Fast Food Nation recently, I don't have a whole lot of faith in the government's ability to control this kind of activity on a large scale. The government used to have a lot more power over companies since Theodore Roosevelt's time, but the book seems to point the finger at the Reagon era for the change.
Anyway, it wouldn't have been bad PR to admit a mistake, hell it's only human to make mistakes, even when something is as serious as this. The problem shouldn't have been there at all, but it was caught before anyone was hurt, so they should have just apologised and fixed it. Cover-ups make me sick.
Yup...
I've always wondered why the Engineers had to sit through the ethics lectures, and the Comp Sci people didn't. In this day and age, we are relying on automated systems and programs enough so that the people making them should be aware of the consequences of failure.
I know some people will hate to hear this, but, like your insulin pump, maybe these types of devices should be considered medical devices. These things are not simple devides like a heart rate monitor, or bicycle trip computer. When you life is a product's hands you need someone like the FDA looking out for you.
The dogcow says "Moof!"
ok, I work at a dive shop in Toronto Canada, I am a certified rescue diver. No diver should _EVER_ rely strictly upon a dive computer, they should always have a backup depth and pressure gauge. Not only that but they should plan their dive using Naui or padi (or similar) dive tables and follow their plan. If at that point their computer thinks they can stay longer.. thats good but follow your plan anyway, better safe than sorry! The point is, get trained properly, and use ur brain not a computer to do the thinking.