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> Calling the company was of no help. The engineer who answered responded that nothing was wrong with the design of the switch that extremely careful operation

> Calling the company was of no help. The engineer who answered responded that nothing was wrong with the design of the switch that extremely careful operation would not overcome. He’d been using it for months with no problem. My blood pressure rose reading this. Absolutely infuriating response. I can't stand it when engineers fail to recognize how human factors relate to the systems they build. Makes me want to grab them by the ear like a child and put them in timeout until they come to their senses.

csours 8y ago
I recently re-watched "This is broken" and I think there's a subtle way things are broken related to "not my job" - called "I did my job". In any kind of non-trivial engineering, you have a spec to meet, and it is difficult to meet that spec under given constraints, so you don't go and look for more problems. You are happy that you did your job. 0. https://youtu.be/aNDiHSHYI_c?t=235 https://youtu.be/aNDiHSHYI_c?t=235
michalc 8y ago
There could be something else at play in the call... they could have been scared that if a representative of Lexus admitted there was a problem with the design, they would be admitting liability.
- c22 8y ago
  He didn't call a representative of Lexus.
  - mirimir 8y ago
    True. And TFA doesn't name the company: > ... but it is a real, aftermarket device for Lexus RX-300 series cars being sold by a company in Florida. However, parent's argument applies to "company in Florida". Also, ironically, to the author of TFA. I'm guessing that it's not an accident that he doesn't name "company in Florida".
mcv 8y ago
Another variation of "it works fine for me".
tabtab 8y ago
Just say, "It's a practical problem for us and if you don't fix it, I'll take our business elsewhere." If you can't take your business elsewhere, then you or your org dug itself a hole and is thus partly responsible. Never depend on one lone idiot. (Remember Jurassic Park 1?)

csours 8y ago

I recently re-watched "This is broken" and I think there's a subtle way things are broken related to "not my job" - called "I did my job". In any kind of non-trivial engineering, you have a spec to meet, and it is difficult to meet that spec under given constraints, so you don't go and look for more problems. You are happy that you did your job. 0. https://youtu.be/aNDiHSHYI_c?t=235 https://youtu.be/aNDiHSHYI_c?t=235

michalc 8y ago

There could be something else at play in the call... they could have been scared that if a representative of Lexus admitted there was a problem with the design, they would be admitting liability.

c22 8y ago
He didn't call a representative of Lexus.
- mirimir 8y ago
  True. And TFA doesn't name the company: > ... but it is a real, aftermarket device for Lexus RX-300 series cars being sold by a company in Florida. However, parent's argument applies to "company in Florida". Also, ironically, to the author of TFA. I'm guessing that it's not an accident that he doesn't name "company in Florida".

mcv 8y ago

Another variation of "it works fine for me".

tabtab 8y ago

Just say, "It's a practical problem for us and if you don't fix it, I'll take our business elsewhere." If you can't take your business elsewhere, then you or your org dug itself a hole and is thus partly responsible. Never depend on one lone idiot. (Remember Jurassic Park 1?)