PC World ran an interesting story this week on “The Top 21 Tech Screwups of 2006” by Dan Tynan. His pick in the crowded field for the top blunder was the exploding Sony lithium ion batteries:
Biggest Mistakes #1
1. Assault With Batteries. When 62-year old Thomas Forqueran and a buddy were packing up from a Nevada fishing trip last July, he left his Dell Inspiron 1300 notebook in the cab of his 1966 Ford pickup. Soon Forqueran smelled smoke, then saw flames shooting out of the passenger window. Within moments the fire hit three boxes of ammunition stored in the glove box. Forqueran and his buddy ducked for cover as bullets whizzed by and the gas tank exploded Several flaming laptops made headlines in 2006, but it was Forqueran’s story that pushed Dell to recall 4.1 million laptops containing Sony lithium ion batteries. Apple, IBM/Lenovo, Toshiba, and others soon followed, and laptop makers vowed to build a safer lithium ion battery by July 2007.
Moral of the story, don’t store your laptop by anything flammable, much less explosive.
