Everyone who writes safety critical software should read this

[Nick Sabalausky]

On 10/29/2013 8:59 PM, Joakim wrote:> Heh, this reminded me of my 
current ultrabook, the Zenbook Prime UX31A,
 > which is an absolutely fantastic machine, the best I've ever owned, but
 > whose designers made the unfortunate decision to make the power button
 > just another key on the keyboard, as opposed to hard-wiring it directly
 > to the battery.  Combine that with the fact that the keyboard connector
 > doesn't hold its place well and is actually held in place by masking 
tape:
 >
 > http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Unresponsive+Keyboard+Keys/11932
 >
 > Cut to me late last year, unable to turn my ultrabook on because the
 > keyboard connector had completely slipped out, a month after I had
 > accidentally dropped it.  I had to find the linked instructions after a
 > bunch of googling, go pick up a Torx T5, and fix it myself, as Asus
 > support kept insisting to everyone that it was a software issue and that
 > they should either reinstall the drivers or the OS!  I followed those
 > simple instructions instead and no problems till a week ago, when I had
 > to repeat the procedure again. :)

I'm still irritated that laptop manufacturers have gone the cheap route 
of replacing physical "disconnect the wireless antennas" switch with 
software-based keyboard combinations.

Actually, much more than that, I'm *really* annoyed at the elimination 
of physical, hardware-based speaker volume controls in favor of 
purely-software volume controls that do whatever the hell they want, 
whenever they feel like it, and don't even work *at all* under many 
basic circumstances (A hardware volume works *even when the device is 
off*. Try writing an app to do THAT!): 
http://semitwist.com/articles/article/view/it-takes-a-special-kind-of-stupid-to-screw-up-volume-controls

Another example of the worthlessness of software volumes is the stereo 
in my mom's 2010 Hyundai Elantra: Every time the car is turned on the 
radio comes on, and at a factory-determined volume, *regardless* of how 
you left the volume and on/off state when you last turned the car off. 
And then if you immediately turn the radio back off, it will 
*automatically turn it back on AGAIN*. Stupid motherfuckers actually 
claimed this was a "convenience feature". Idiocy at its finest.

Hardware controls *CAN'T* fuck things up that freaking badly. But 
software opens the door to all manner of colossally bad design blunders.

By contrast, I *love* my Prizm's stereo. EVerything always does exactly 
what I tell it. I don't have to turn the car on and let some OS boot 
before I can turn the volume down. I can *feel* all the buttons and use 
them without taking my eyes off the road. And unlike the Elantra's 
stereo, it's never crashed back to a Windows CE desktop.