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Comment by valvar | Hacker News Reader

Maybe? Your alternative seems to be to let a few people die every now and then, so that some companies can get better margins.

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Nobody did die though, nor is it very likely they would. And this is one pair out of however many million they've sold. I'm not arguing there shouldn't be compensation in this instance, nor an investigation into why it happened. But hypothetically if it was some one in a million space particle (which is obviously unlikely), I think it's pretty ludicrous to expect Bose to design for that eventuality.

> I think it's pretty ludicrous to expect Bose to design for that eventuality.

That decision is, indeed, up to Bose.

But should they choose to continue making a headphones that have a 1-in-N-million chance of exploding, this should be clearly indicated on every pair they sell.

So that their competitors who choose to invest in safety would be able to reap the fruit if their labor in the free market.

How many times are you going to say "exploding" to describe something that didn't explode? You're clearly cognizant of the fact you are lying, so why keep doing it? Why not just describe what happened accurately? Is it a concern that you can't make your point if you relate to the facts in a more accurate fashion, without the repeated hyperbole?

It's less that I care about the their "margins" and more that I care about having headphones that aren't $600 and give me long-term neck problems from their weight.

Also nobody has died so...

>It's less that I care about the their "margins" and more that I care about having headphones that aren't $600 and give me long-term neck problems from their weight.

You are aware that wired headphones exist, right?

Also, quite a leap from "Bose shouldn't make headphones that explode while being used, like QC-35 II" to "if we ask for that, this will make all headphones heavy enough to cause neck problems and cost North of $600".

Self-exploding headphones were not a problem we had for most of the time headphones existed. There's no reason to introduce it, nor accept it.

>Also nobody has died so...

Oh, so someone has to die instead of merely being injured for you to care? That's hardly compassionate, but understandable.

How about we settle for the middle ground of the following being included with each pair:

"BOSE Quite Comfort QC 35 II. You might experience bodily injury during normal operation of this product. Also nobody has died, so..."

"Exploding" is a feature of the battery, not the headphone.

Lithium-ion are the best we have right now, and they "explode" (catch fire I think is more accurate) when damaged.

Do I want better battery chemistries that are more robust? Of course.

Am I going to hold this against Bose or any other battery-powered device manufacturer until we do? No.

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