"D Yuniskis" wrote in message ...

Hi Charles,

Charles wrote:
Consumers are becoming more clueless as software takes over their lives.

The problem is that consumers don't *want* to know how things
work or *should* work.

Well, if you meant that they are not willing to expend any effort to learn
about their possessions, then you are correct.

And, they don't "vote with their wallet".
They get a crappy product and they either live with it (possibly
not even knowing how crappy it is!) or toss it out and buy another
(probably EQUALLY as crappy)

I shudder at the amount of functional items that are returned, or re-sold,
or sent to landfills and recycling centers. The waste is a pox on our
future. The planet Earth is a finite resource!

This is a problem that is becoming more serious. If the doctors and
nurses and technicians in a modern operating room get confused or misled
by software glitches, it could be really, really serious. Has already
happened.

Google "Therac".

Unfortunately, the folks designing these things have less and less
time, less and less *motivation* and less and less *capability*
for making "robust" products.

Nor are they concerned about tomorrow, unless it's about their stock
options.

My DTV tuner shows *two* "9-1" channels.

The -1 channels here are not always available (high-def) and there is no
discernible rule of thumb to guide one as to why.

- call tech support (in some third-world country, no doubt)
- google for similar symptoms
- discard it in frustration

Toss it out. That's what too many folks are doing. Horrible!