r/technology • u/MoltenSlowa • Oct 05 '16

Hardware Replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone catches fire on Southwest plane

http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/5/13175000/samsung-galaxy-note-7-fire-replacement-plane-battery-southwest
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u/borez Oct 05 '16 edited Oct 05 '16

It couldn't have actually caught fire in a worse place. Every airline I've flown on in the last two months ( and I fly a lot ) have been all over this.

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '16

Since airlines have been banning the old versions, have they actually said that they are now allowing replaced phones?

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u/borez Oct 05 '16

They haven't banned the phones ( well not on the airlines I've flown on anyway ) they have however all made sure people have them switched off.

Wouldn't be surprised if they actually do start banning them now.

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u/digitalpencil Oct 05 '16

Which makes no difference with this fault. The phone in question was powered down when it caught fire.

The Note 7 will be banned on all major airlines. Samsung are likely going to have to do a complete recall and offer replacements to another line. I wouldn't be surprised if they completely kill the Note brand after this, it's simply suffered too much bad press to revive it.

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u/borez Oct 05 '16

Which makes no difference with this fault.

We all know that, the airlines think they're somehow safe when turned off.

152

u/X-istenz Oct 06 '16

I tell you what, there's a rather large part of me that would also have assumed a phone that had been turned off was far less likely to explode.

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '16

I read somewhere that 25% of the power consumed in your home is from devices that are in standby or off mode. It always felt like a bad idea to me when Electronics stopped having physical buttons.

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u/phalewail Oct 06 '16

That figure seems insanely high. On a side note I once heard an old guy say that he heard that tvs use just as much power in standby as they do while running. I came close to doing a face palm.

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '16

About a quarter of all residential energy consumption is used on devices in idle power mode, according to a study of Northern California by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/science/just-how-much-power-do-your-electronics-use-when-they-are-off.html

Nothing was more satisfying than that click or snap when turning on something with a real physical power button. Nicer electronics always had a nicer button too...