More Exploding Cellphones In The News 328
adityapandey writes "It's happened again. Yahoo News has another story on exploding cellphones. Most of these mishaps are blamed on counterfeit batteries and chargers. Recently, Kyocera recalled about 40,000 cellphones for free replacement, because of batteries overheating and venting superheated gases. Yet, cellphone makers claim that such incidents are too rare to care about. Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?"
Re:answer in short (Score:1, Insightful)
Driving (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is it... (Score:3, Insightful)
Seems to me that there's no better way to ensure that companies will do all they can to cover up the problems with their products when they know that any admittal of problems is only going to cause negative publicity, lawsuits, etc.
What??? (Score:5, Insightful)
and then...
Shouldn't cellphone companies be making people aware of the hazards of usage?
So you want cellphone companies to tell you to not buy batteries off of ebay, but only one of their batteries from one of their approved resellers? And then you'll be complaining about unfair business practices, how they are trying to monopolize the battery business, etc etc.
not a huge deal (Score:2, Insightful)
Not much to see here, don't buy shoddy accessories.
it IS too rare (Score:3, Insightful)
83 reports of this in the past 2 years - out of what, 100,000,000 cell-phone users? That's is extremley rare.
I'm not saying such a problem should be ignored, but you can't expect anyone to prioritize it when occurences are so rare.
and how many of the 83 reports of 'exploding batteries' were due to misuse? "the box didn't say I couldn't put my phone in the microwave"
Re:Very Small Percentage (Score:3, Insightful)
Until your mom's hair catches fire.
"It is a shame, and I am sure it is painful for the people and i do feel bad, but lets not get out of hand with this."
Dunno where you're from, but such items come with warranties about being free from defects, and electrical items that catch fire could be considered defective. Are you this lacksadaisical about anything you buy?
Boo! hiss! boo! (Score:5, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:answer in short (Score:5, Insightful)
Common sense (although many consumers lack it) lets you know that jamming a crayon up your nose is asking for trouble. However, even with common sense, you wouldn't expect a cell phone to explode. You bought a tool that lets you speak with people from far away, not a stick of dynamite.
Consumers are indeed jaded enough by the warnings of "do not cram this up your butt" and the like, and since most of these stupid warnings are for inappropriate use of the object, they shouldn't even be there. There should be a law against plain stupidity, and lawsuits because "the manual didn't say I shouldn't jump out the window with this pillow" should never deserve to be heard... only in America can the stupid hope for a better life.
Now, when the hazard comes from regular use of the item, like... talking on your cell phone, well if said phone can explode, or "vent superheated gases" on me, I think I would like to know.
And you thought it was just a cool movie quote... (Score:2, Insightful)
It all comes down to money.
Personally, the low number of incidents does make this pretty insignificant.
Re:Very Small Percentage (Score:5, Insightful)
The grandparent mentioned the odds are something like 1 out of 2 million. Would you prefer the cell companies re-engineer their batteries, perhaps resulting in bulkier or more expensive phones? At some point, the investment isn't worth the return . . . much like the scene in Fight Club where they're discussing that it's cheaper to deal with the defects than to do recalls . . .
Re:Very Small Percentage (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, things come with warranties about being free from defects, but should we REALLY be THAT concerned about something with such a low failure rate? If that were the case, then just sign up for a padded room with a lock in it, it's pretty much the only place you'll be anywhere near safe...both from yourself and others. Of course...you might rip out the padding and try and eat it.....
Re:Too rare to care about? (Score:2, Insightful)
Lightning injures about 1000 people in the U.S. each year. [thecomputerwizard.biz]
The government should be sued for providing us parks to walk through while outside. That's dangerous.
So where do I Find these "Genuine" Batteries (Score:2, Insightful)
"Car Phone Warehouse" at Bristol Cribbs Causeway is listed on the Motorola Web site as one of their Agents. When I asked them for a new battery they treated me as crazy. I asked therefore what was meant by their being a Motorola "agent", and they said their workshop could provide "spares" but the battery was a "consumable", not a "spare"! And they did not keep "consumables" for my phone because it had been discontinued for over a year. I said it was precisely because the phone was that old that the battery needed replacing, all the more reason why they should sell them.
Several other shops found batteries under the counter that were almost but not quite the same size, shape, and contact layout. Every model of phone seems to have different battery. Why can't there be standardisation?
I was persistent, but most users must sling their phone when the battery is clapped. So much for environmental responsibility.
Re:Very Small Percentage (Score:5, Insightful)
And yet a candle that doesn't catch fire could be considered defective. A candle that isn't defective can burn your house down (or your mom's hair off) even when used as directed. Damned if I'd let my mom buy one of those things, but I can't believe she'd be so lackadaisical as to actually do so.
Dude, all electrical devices carry a certain risk of fire, your house for instance (yes, your house is most likely an electrical device). I wouldn't go to sleep tonight if I were you. Houses catch fire from inside the walls all the time.
If the odds of it happening to me are lower than being hit by an asteroid, well, I'll take whatever precautions seem warrented, like feeling the charger/battery the first couple times I use it to see if it's overheating, but no, I'm not going to worry about it much. That way lies madness.
. .
Warranties do not actually certify that any particular item is defect free. This isn't possible in this particular universe. There is always a risk factor involved. In fact, ironically, that's why products come with "guaruntees," because they can't actually give you one that it won't fail, but can guaruntee that some particular, but as yet unidentified, unit will fail.
What they can do is give you compensation in the event of failure, which is the sole function of a warranty.
If you really think they're there to protect you from harm you need to do a good deal more thinking about the nature of risk, which is not a bad idea in general anyway, and you look like you could use it.
KFG
Iraqi Civilians (Score:2, Insightful)
If you believe that some small fraction of the Iraqi population is just trying to defend their homes from ruthless invaders, well, what about the rest of the people there? Why isn't this resistance universal? How come there are so few "defending" and why do they kill other Iraqi civilians while "defending" their homes?
How about there is a small fraction of the population that wants to oppress the others and don't care if some of those others get killed in the process. They have been in power for 40 years or so because we put them there and it is about time we cleaned up our mess. The US is finally taking responsibility for putting a madman in power in Iraq and stomping out his fellow travelers that had a piece of the action before.
As to Iraq threatening people, sure - while the sanctions were in place they were shooting at US and UK planes patrolling the no-fly zone. They had lots of preparations for the sanctions being over with and lots of folks in EU ready and willing to sell them all sorts of weapons and chemicals to wreak havoc on Israel and their other neighbors. Threats? No, of course you are correct - Iraq was no threat to the US as long as we don't trade with anybody and keep on our side of the oceans. That might be the better solution, but I don't see it getting implemented anytime soon. So, yes, they were a threat to the stability of the region and to the credibility of the UN.
Re:Very Small Percentage (Score:2, Insightful)
I am in space. So are you. So are asteroids, some of which could be both resting on what's left of you and your living room and in outer space at one and the same time! Frickin' awesome, ain't it?
The sky is falling on me [bbc.co.uk]
I've never heard of anyone getting hit by a meteorite
And now you have. It happens. And it's far more likely that your house (with you in it) will get hit by one. That happens comparitively often. Shit's falling out of the sky all the time. Not having heard of something is sometimes a sign of ignorance, not a sign that it doesn't happen.
By the way, the odds of getting hit by an asteroid have been calculated at 1 in 20,000.
. .
Exactly. That's roughly 1 in 2,000,000. And only a few of those people suffered any injury, since the risk of it happening to explode while it's on your person is even smaller, and even smaller while actually holding it to your ear.
And how many cars have caught fire today alone? I'm sorry, but if you're plummeting down the highway in a ton and a half projectile gas bomb and worrying about your cell phone exploding I'm going to persist in thinking you have a problem with risk assessment.
Ah, but what if it happened to someone I knew?
Well, a dear, dear friend of mine actually died by falling down stairs. I miss her terribly. I'm not any more afraid of stairs than I was before, as the odds of my dying by falling down stairs remain equally low now as they did before.
Another friend died, at 33 years old, because a bit of her brain just kinda exploded one day. As it turns out brains don't have any kind of warranty at all. More people die from this than have cell phones explode (none of whom have died).
I'm afraid I'm so lackadaisical about the condition of my brain that I really don't even think about it much, even after suffering such a loss of friendship.
KFG
I wish they would ALL blow up (Score:2, Insightful)
But I am just SO tired of cell phones. People want to drive while they talk on them, but they really can't - swerving, slowing down in traffic, whatever - dangerous and a pain in the ass. Not to mention the way the signal drops out, no matter what the user is doing. I am SO tired of talking to people on their cell phones and losing the connection, or one of us not being able to hear the other.
We got along before we had cellphones, I really think we could continue to. Personally I don't want to have people being able to contact me every moment of the day, nor do I need to take it into the grocery store to send my wife a picture of the damn steaks I want to buy. For some people they are literally life savers, but for the most part they are intrusive and rude - as are the people who use them everywhere.
Cell phones, just say NO!
Re:Iraqi Civilians (Score:3, Insightful)
From that POV, the USA had every right to take him down, since he backstabbed them and turned to the 'dark side'.