Hi, everyone.
I’m Leo Notenboom for askleo.com.
This is my Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
You may have heard of this phone in recent months.
It apparently has a, I’ll call it a flaw, where it actually has a higher than average
chance of bursting into flames.
That’s clearly, not a good thing.
So much so that not only has the phone been recalled, it’s been completely discontinued
and in the United States and now some other countries, it’s actually been banned from
aircraft so you’re not actually allowed to even take the phone with you when you travel
via an United States airline.
That includes checked baggage, on the plane, on or off, it doesn’t matter, you’re not
allowed to take the phone with you.
Fortunately, my travel is done for the year.
I’m staying home for the rest of the year so I don’t have an immediate need.
Here’s the issue: The Note 7 is the best phone I’ve ever had; It really is.
It’s fast; it’s powerful.
A couple of years ago I decided to go, more or less, all in on my mobile phone technology
so I do a lot of things on my phone.
Given that this is the best phone, I’m reluctant to trade it in because as of today, as of
the day I record this, every trade-is essentially a downgrade.
They are not replacing the phone with the same model; they tried that and they continued
to burst into flames.
So, everything be3ing a downgrade, I’m gonna stick with this phone for a while longer.
I have to criteria that will cause me to trade in the phone for a replacement model and I’ll
get to those in a minute, but I want to explain a little bit about why I’m not afraid of
the phone and in fact, why the phone still sits next to me on the nightstand charging
overnight; why it stays in my pocket?
Someone did the math given the number of phones that have been shipped and given the number
of reported incidents of the phone actually bursting into flames, they did the math.
It’s this percentage of possibility; this is the risk in just holding this phone in
my mind; there’s a certain amount of risk that at some point it could burst into flames.
The thing is the math that he did showed that you’re actually at a greater risk of greater
harm driving to the local phone store to replace the phone than you are actually continuing
to keep the phone.
Now, to be honest, I don’t have the numbers.
When I read the article, the numbers made sense at a cognitive level but obviously I
didn’t do the research to actually regenerate those numbers with the same base of assumptions.
But my feeling has always been that given that there are something like a couple million
of these phones out there and the number of phones that have basically caught on fire,
is in double digits at best, then yeah, it’s one in a million; one in a hundred thousand
– something like that.
Those kind of odds don’t frighten me.
Now, the issue, of course, is that when it gets to things like press, well of course,
phones burst into flames, it’s a wonderful news story so of course, you’ve all heard
about it.
That’s what sells news.
It’s not a reflection necessarily of the practical reality of the safety of continuing
to use the phone; it’s a reflection of what kind of headlines will make news.
Similarly, banning the phone on aircraft, actually has some basis in rationale thought
and that is simply that the cost of failure is very high.
If the phone catches on fire on an aircraft in the air and it’s not properly taken care
of, whatever that mean in mid-air, then you’ve put that flight, the entire flight at risk.
At worst, you know, obviously catastrophic failure but even at best you know that the
flight is going to have to land immediately, cut their flight short, inconvenience a lot
of people, cost the airline a lot of money, it just makes sense then that they would proactively
take the step of nope, we’re not going to take that risk because the cost of failure
is so high for us, you can’t bring that phone one the plane.
I get that.
The other one of just discontinuing the phone completely, recalling the phone, that makes
sense to me too.
Again, it’s got a higher than average number of failures that you know, phones catch on
fire.
For legal reasons, not even necessary safety reasons, but for legal reasons, Samsung basically
has to recall the thing and ultimately they have to discontinue it.
Again, not because the phone is so horrifically unsafe but because if someone does get injured,
then Samsung is facing lawsuits.
In fact, there’s already been talk of a Class Action lawsuit against Samsung for the
failure of this phone.
What that lawsuit entails, I have no idea, once again, it’s a headline maker.
I didn’t really go in-depth in the article but it doesn’t surprise me in the least.
People are always, it seems, ready to jump on the bandwagon to sue somebody when they
think something has gone wrong.
Had Samsung not voluntarily recalled the phone; had not Samsung not voluntarily discontinued
production of this phone, then the chances of them losing that lawsuit, again, the cost
of failure, are way higher and the cost incurred when losing that lawsuit would again also
be way higher.
By discontinuing, by recalling, they’re showing at least a “good faith” effort
to make sure that people who have the phone are safe or as safe as they can be and therefore
this shows good faith when it gets into the court.
Fine.
I’m not about courts; I’m not flying anytime soon and I do understand a little bit about
statistics and odds.
I’m not worried.
I’m keeping this phone for a while.
So, what’s a while?
Well, a while, there are exactly two scenarios where I plan to exchange this phone for a
replacement.
Scenario number one is when something equivalent or better comes along.
Now, the good news is that Google’s Pixel XL looks really promising.
Again, as I tape this, it’s a month a way from my hands so I’m not going to be able
to see it or hold it in my hands to make a final decision for a while.
So, that’s a while; that’s how long I’m holding on to this phone.
And yes, there’s another scenario where I might end up exchanging this phone early.
And that is against all odds, if it does in fact, burst into flames then by definition
I’ll have to replace it and that’s fine.
But I don’t think that’s going to happen.
There’s a one in a hundred thousand chance that it will happen to me; to this phone specifically.
And that’s fine.
Those are odds I can live with because those are odds that I accept every day when I get
into the car or when I do all sorts of other activities that we take for granted.
So don’t let the headlines distract you from practical thinking.
From understanding what’s the real risk; are things really as risky as the headlines
would have you believe?
Nine times out of ten they’re not.
Are they something to pay attention to?
Absolutely!
I will replace this phone at some point but are they things that should really cause you
to panic?
Rarely.
And that’s where I’m at with my phone.
My Note 7 is going to be with me for a while longer.
We’ll see and of course if it does burst into flames, I’ll do my very best to take
some pictures, share them on my Facebook and Ask Leo!.
So, what do you think about this all?
What do you think about basically the news about technology bursting into flames?
Has it been overblown?
Am I nuts?
Should I actually drop this thing immediately?
I don’t think so.
What do you think?
Let me know.
As always, the discussions, the comments that get read and moderated are out on askleo.com.
Here’s a link to that page where this video is hosted.
As always, I’d love to hear what you think.
Until next time, I’m Leo Notenboom, phone in hand.
Remember, have fun, stay safe and don’t forget to back up.
Take care, everyone.
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