[Swordmaker]

We flew about a month ago, and on every flight as part of the safety brief were instructions to have Samsung note 7 phones powered off during the entire flight. After hearing this announcement for the 4th time, I commented that it was probably not the kind of advertising campaign Samsung was hoping for.

The Samsung Note 7 that caught fire on the SouthWest Airline flight had already been powered down. . . so much for that advice.

Usually, any mention of their product, good or bad, is acceptable because all the consumer is going to remember in the long run is the name of the company, but this is not going to do that. . . but NO company wants such negative advertising as this. They WILL remember the name and in this instance the circumstances.

Usually in the circumstances it will go in one ear and out the other. But when it relates to FIRE and EXPLODING or specifically mentioned in relation to flight safety? Not so much. That sticks as a negative to the product name!

[El Cid]

I know that you are an Apple aficionado.
Do you think the Samsung battery problems were due to sloppy design/checkout? Poor battery supplier choice, and poor quality controls? Poor internal qualification procedures at Samsung? Or did Apple just dodge a bullet, and it could have happen to them also?

I imagine there was a lot of gut wrenching double-checking of the batteries on the Apple side when they first heard the news. And a lot of clinking of the champagne glasses in the aftermath.