The Kill switch

I

Have you ever had an electronic device that broke just after the

warranty expired? Could it be a coincidence? Or is something more sinister involved?

Many people believe in the existence of a “kill switch” – an internal mechanism in electronic devices that stops products working after a certain time. They are convinced that the products are programmed to break as soon as the warranty expires. This is the myth of the “kill switch” or the “product timer”. Rumours have even emerged that the timers are controlled remotely, and set off just when a new product is ready to come out on the market.

One company in particular is at the centre of this debate: Sony. Sony is renowned for its top-quality electronic goods. They produce everything from video-cameras to DVD players to games consoles. But many people believe in the myth of the “Sony Timer”. The rumour has been around since the 1980s. But recent incidents seem to have confirmed it. In 2006, about 4 million Dell laptops were recalled because of faulty Sony batteries. It was a disaster for Dell, but also for Sony as the incident put the myth into the public arena.

But there were other cases. Many customers complained about their Sony VAIO laptops, claiming that they broke after about a year of use. This was followed by another incident involving E-Series Bravia TVs. A bug in the TV’s internal system meant that they would only last 1,200 hours before refusing to power on or off. This adds up to about 3 hours watching per day for one year, the exact period of the television’s warranty. Sony was forced to issue a software patch to fix the problem.

Of course, Sony insists that the myth of the timers is totally absurd. There’s no evidence to back up the claims. And, of course, millions of users are extremely happy with their Sony products. “I’ve had a Sony MP3 player for five years and it still works perfectly,” said Elsie Barrows, a market researcher. “And I’ve got a Sony Walkman from 15 years ago and that still plays cassettes!” she added. Meanwhile, will you be renewing your warranty?

Company fights against rumours of a kill switch.

TH

E K

ILL

SW

ITC

H

GLOSSARYa warranty n a written promise by a company that they will repair a product or replace it if there is a problem to expire vb if a warranty “expires”, it stops being valid sinister adj something that appears to be very bad, evil or harmful a mechanism n a part of a machine that often consists of a set of smaller parts that perform a function remotely adv if something is activated “remotely”, it is activated from a distance to set off phr vb if a mechanism in a machine is “set off”, it is activated to come out phr vb if a product “comes out”, a company places the product in shops / on the internet and people can buy it a games console n an electronic device for playing videogames to recall vb if a company “recalls” a product, it tells people to bring it back to the factory, often so they can fix it faulty adj if something is “faulty”, it doesn’t work properly or it has something wrong with it a battery n a small device that you put in products to power them and make them work to complain vb to say that you aren’t satisfied with a product or service a laptop n a portable computer (one that you can carry) a bug n an error in an electronic device or computer to refuse vb if a machine “refuses” to work, it won’t work a patch n a computer program that is designed to fix a problem to back up phr vb if A “backs up” B, A provides information/evidence to support B

AN

SWER

S O

N P

Ag

E 45

1 Pre-readingMatch the electronic devices (1 to 6) to the pictures (a-f). 1. A videogames console 2. A laptop 3. An MP3 player 4. A digital camera 5. A camcorder / video-camera 6. A plasma screen TV

US man

e

a

cd

b

f

I’m programmed

to die!