This site seems to have them everywhere! Last I knew you couldn't use it on a Mac, so why advertise it here?

Given the reports of high operating temps of the MacBook and MacBook Pro, I wouldn't be surprised to see more of this happening in the future. Sure, using any notebook on carpet isn't a bright idea, but... well... some people don't know any better.

The "report" repeatedly shows the Apple logo and Apple laptops (an iBook) as the story is being reported; repeated referring to "laptop fires", showing a burned down apartment complex, showing the burning iBook.

Given this is a CBS affiliate station, permit me to suggest that the reporter fillin for other CBS staff in Iraq since he likes fires so much...

This reminds me of a summer when I was young. My sister and I went to Lake Havasu with our grandparents, who had a mobile home on the island where they spent many of their vacation weeks. My grandfather had just had the deck carpeted with green outdoor carpet. One night, he brought out the hibachi and grilled some hamburgers for us. Unfortunately, he had set the hibachi on one of the newly carpeted steps. And when it cooled off and we moved it, we figured out what that stench was when we were cooking. Yes, the hibachi had melted the carpet below it. Fortunately it was just a step, not the main deck, and we spent the next morning repairing it while the ambient temperature was still below 120°F. The moral of this story, of course, is if you're gonna set your laptop on the floor, set it on a step.

Touché, Bosco. I once witnessed a customer returning a cordless power tool because the battery charger melted his carpet. Yes, he charged the battery, unattended, with the charger directly*on*the*shag*carpet. He was a rather oblivious idiot. A little common sense with electronic devices known to generate heat goes a long way.

<i>Yes, he charged the battery, unattended, with the charger directly*on*the*shag*carpet. He was a rather oblivious idiot.</i><BR><BR>
Why does that make him an idiot? It is up to the manufacturer to make things safe for use in the real world. There are no warnings on the iBooks or the charger saying you can't use it on carpet! Most offices have carpet - and also paper and other things that can burn. I've been using PowerBooks for over ten years and laying them ON THE CARPET with the CABLE PLUGGED IN. No problems and no one ever told me not to do that - including the manual.<BR><BR>
If the newer computers are more unsafe than the old ones, they need to make the rules for using them CLEAR even to people who don't read manuals (which is 99% of the buyers!) Especially if they are causing fires.<BR><BR>
Every time I hear the user blamed, it just makes me angry. It is a poor excuse for bad product design. I could understand blaming the user if he was using his PowerBook in the bathtub, but on carpet? No, no, no! Don't blame the user for bad product design or manufacturing defects.

The moral is: if your lithium battery won't run your laptop for more than a few minutes, and gets very hot when you are running your laptop off mains power (like this one), you've become dependent on the battery's safety cutout to prevent serious overheating when mains powered. Do yourself a favour, and either remove the battery while running off mains power, or get a replacement battery.

The lithium battery is the only thing that will sustain a flame once started. Everything else may smoulder, smoke and stink, but remove the source of heat/power, and it will extinguish. It's illegal to use materials that sustain combustion in the construction of electronic apparatus.

It's a shock when it happens, and by the time a journalist has rewritten a smoke and fumes story, it's become "caught on fire" even if there were no flames.

It's because of the lithium battery's ability to sustain a flame once its innards are exposed and ignited that there have been so many battery recalls after only one or two incidents.

I think you may want to read your manual again, this is lifted directly from the Powerbook G4 12"

My manual says;

For prolonged use, place your PowerBook on a flat, stable surface. The bottom of the PowerBook case functions as a cooling surface that transfers heat from inside the computer to the cooler air outside. The bottom of the case is raised slightly to allow airflow that keeps the unit within normal operating temperatures. In addition, the computer vents warm air from the back of the case.

Warning: Do not place your PowerBook on a pillow or other soft material when it is on, as the material may block the airflow vents, in particular the rear vents, and cause the computer to overheat.

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soft_guy wrote:

If the newer computers are more unsafe than the old ones, they need to make the rules for using them CLEAR even to people who don't read manuals (which is 99% of the buyers!) Especially if they are causing fires.<BR><BR>
Every time I hear the user blamed, it just makes me angry. It is a poor excuse for bad product design.

First - don't generalize - many may not read manuals but that makes them prone to this type of mistake. I doubt it approaches 99%. The manual is there for a reason! Second - I did not call this 11 year old an idiot - I actually called the cordless power tool owner an idiot. (He was - you had to be there.) I did, however, call this child's parents to task for perhaps not explaining to him about proper use of a laptop. Why do you think laptop stands are so popular? We've had ours since day one with our PowerBook. The heat dissipated by a laptop ought to warn any user that it should have good ventilation. Heat equates to fire, right?

This is basic, basic stuff - don't play with electronic toys unless you know the ground rules.

People who cannot use common sense when it comes to common items need to be removed from the gene pool. It is to the detriment of the species that we blame manufacturers for creating a device that generates heat when some idiot decides it's ok to not allow for proper ventilation.

44 incidents isn't even a blip on the radar in terms of fire causing appliances in the US. 44 Lithium batteries with bad seals puts the rate of defect at something like 1:1,000,000,000; I imagine that there might have been some incentive to do the story just to use the cool pictures of the laptop burning (although how the laptop makes it out in the back yard to be photographed seems... well, at least odd to me).

The real question is what drove the story; Why the focus on Apple; Yes, the laptop that burned was an Apple but all the images shown while talking about dangerous burning laptops were interspersed with Apple products and the Apple logo. Even the closing sequence, where they concede other manufacturers use lithium batteries, mentions Apple first while showing a picture zoomed in to the Apple logo on a laptop that backs away and is then layered in with other laptops (ostensibly from other manufacturers). Does Apple have a higher rate of defect than other manufacturers? The report leaves the consumer with the notion that it does but (and I don't really know for sure) I don't believe this to be the case.

IBM created an acronym for their marketing technique designed to quash upity computer companies that dared to compete with them durring their monopoly years it was called: FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) -- The theory being that even if the little guy had a better product you could make it feel dangerous for your customers to leave the fold.

I think you've just gotten an example of how FUD works.

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soft_guy wrote:
Every time I hear the user blamed, it just makes me angry. It is a poor excuse for bad product design. I could understand blaming the user if he was using his PowerBook in the bathtub, but on carpet? No, no, no! Don't blame the user for bad product design or manufacturing defects.

If it were bad product design or a manufacturing defect, I'd agree with you. But it isn't.

If every device you bought had to have complete warnings plastered over it about how dangerous it could be in every conceivable and inconceivable position, you wouldn't be able to use it.

My gas hob does not say, "Warning - generates flame that may cause injury." My toaster doesn't infom me, "Don't insert objects that touch the element." The cup I get my long black in every morning doesn't warn me of the heat of coffee and that it could cause me discomfort were I to spill it. However many things that you buy have manuals, which generally contain warnings which one would be a fool not to read.

I have placed my PB on carpet, and on my bed, despite the warning in the manual not to do this - however I've always taken care that the ventilation holes aren't covered. There's a lot of difference between an ordinary carpet and a shag pile carpet (do people still have those?) though.

Yeah, don't use a laptop on a carpet. Are you nuts? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Better not use it in your lap in that case. And certainly don't use it on your head...if you have hair. How silly. Nothing better to do?

Let the bottom get circulation or it may cause overheating...overheating, NOT, Smolder and burst into flames!!!
If there so freakin dangerous, they should add 1/4 inch to it, and toss in a few fans!!! Improve the heatsinks...maybe a liquid cooled system;) At least an auto-matic shut down or something.
If there as, or more, dangerous than a space heater, it's a design flaw.

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LaurieF wrote:
My toaster doesn't infom me, &quot;Don't insert objects that touch the element.&quot; The cup I get my long black in every morning doesn't warn me of the heat of coffee and that it could cause me discomfort were I to spill it.

Actually, toasters do have warnings about not sticking objects in them, and if you buy your coffee at a place like Dunkin Donuts they do have warnings about the heat and spilling. Hair dryers have warnings not to use them while standing in water (which may seem quite obvious). Many products today have warnings on them because legally it's the duty of a company to clearly inform users of any known hazards, no matter how common sensical they may seem.