News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:My Bose QC-35 II headphones burst into flames and left me... by onion2k on Saturday December 18, 2021 @02:41AM (#29602599)
There is over a billion cars in the world, most filled with highly flammable gasoline that actually burns inside them. Yet none are spontaneously exploding.

They absolutely are. 170,000 a year in the US alone. Some are even due to known design faults. A few years ago Ford recalled almost a million pickups due to a fire risk, and then recalled half of them again because the first fix caused another fire risk.

The probability of injury or death from a vehicle fire is probably much higher than the risk of injury from wireless headphones.

https://www.consumernotice.org/personal-injury/vehicle-safet...

Re:My Bose QC-35 II headphones burst into flames and left me... by romwell on Saturday December 18, 2021 @03:20AM (#29602809)
Yeah, and GM just recalled effectively all EVs they ever made.

What's your point? Mine was that Bose should do the same thing with their headphones, and they won't do it out of their own accord.

Also consider that there are billions of porcelain dishes made in the world, and somehow, they don't self-explode. If headphones are different in that regard, they should be, at the very least, clearly labeled as such - which is not the case.

Re:My Bose QC-35 II headphones burst into flames and left me... by onion2k on Saturday December 18, 2021 @03:59AM (#29602988)
The point is that no matter how hard you try, electrical, mechanical or chemical failure will always be a risk. It's an inherent property of physical objects. It's impossibly to make them perfectly safe. Although, to be fair, given the number of objects compared to the number of failures, we're pretty close. Obviously manufacturers should attempt to minimize the risk but they'll never reduce it to zero.

If you're concerned about exploding lithium ion or lithium polymer devices in your home the only recourse available to you is not to buy any.

If you do that you should also be aware that corded devices also catch fire sometimes though. You should avoid those too.

Maybe just avoid electrical systems entirely.

Re:My Bose QC-35 II headphones burst into flames and left me... by romwell on Saturday December 18, 2021 @04:34PM (#29608748)
>Although, to be fair, given the number of objects compared to the number of failures, we're pretty close.

Did you ever pause to think why that's the case? That wasn't the case 100 years ago, when Radium was a fun new chemical to paint your teeth with.

We are pretty close because of government regulation, warnings, and yes, lawsuits that punish the companies for being negligent on safety.

>Obviously manufacturers should attempt to minimize the risk but they'll never reduce it to zero.

And obviously, the manufacturers need incentives to do so. Safety warnings aren't just for the consumer - they also make safer products more marketable. And penalties for not doing due diligence won't happen by themselves unless the consumers take an active position, report safety violations to CPSC, and sue to recover the damages.

Someone has to enforce the rules. In the US, the enforcement is shifted to the consumer and the legal system. We have CPSC, NHTSA, FAA - and their reach is still limited, the justification being that it should be up to the courts.

Re:My Bose QC-35 II headphones burst into flames and left me... by usr1106 on Saturday December 18, 2021 @05:44AM (#29603480)
> Maybe just avoid electrical systems entirely.

The risks from burning wood in your living room are higher. My wife got burned badly when she was a small kid. We have freezing temperatures 7-8 months a year in this country. So heating requires a lot of energy and with a lot of energy there is always higher risk, whether electric or not.

Re:My Bose QC-35 II headphones burst into flames and left me... by avianlyric on Saturday December 18, 2021 @05:25AM (#29603394)
> GM just recalled effectively all EVs they ever made.

What has this got to do with exploding ICE cars?

> What's your point?

I think GPs point was pretty clear. You made a completely unfounded claim, ICE cars don’t spontaneously explode, despite the fact that evidence shows they clearly do, and do so at a rate higher than headphones or EVs.

Re:My Bose QC-35 II headphones burst into flames and left me... by Bud on Saturday December 18, 2021 @03:43AM (#29602922)
I think their point was that you were pretty sloppy with your facts.