2 ms·
It's an interesting question. I can think of a valid reasons for software voiding a warranty. E.g. if I use non-recommended software to drive a CNC machine, and
by gnode 9y ago
It's an interesting question. I can think of a valid reasons for software voiding a warranty. E.g. if I use non-recommended software to drive a CNC machine, and it causes a destructive head crash, or custom engine management software to make my car go faster and it wears out the engine more quickly. Increasingly, the integrity of machines is dependent on software.
It may also be unreasonable to put the burden of proof on the warranty issuer, that the damage was caused by the user's arbitrary choice of software.
If the validity of the warranty clause depends on the extent to which the software may affect the device's physical integrity, then I can imagine some manufacturers locking users into their software by making that dependence more opaque.
- ryandrake 9y agoOne school of thought is that it’s defective hardware design if well-behaved software is all that’s keeping hardware from catastrophically failing.
- gnode 9y agoOften the line between hardware and software is blurred (is FPGA logic or processor microcode hardware?). Avoiding catastrophic failure may be a non-trivial problem. In the example case of a CNC machine, you must avoid putting too much strain on a tool, or suddenly colliding with the workpiece, thus requiring knowledge of the workpiece geometry. Software can also be easily updated to mitigate hardware faults or design problems (e.g. processor bugs).