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The Kill switch

Company fights against rumours of a kill switch.

ANSWERS ON PAgE 45

Pre-reading

Match 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

ave you ever had an

electronic device that
broke just after the
warranty expired? Could it be
a coincidence? Or is something
more sinister involved?

Im
programmed
to die!

b
e
f

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 TVs 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 televisions 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. Theres no evidence to
back up the claims. And, of course, millions
of users are extremely happy with their Sony
products. Ive had a Sony MP3 player for five
years and it still works perfectly, said Elsie
Barrows, a market researcher. And Ive got a
Sony Walkman from 15 years ago and that
still plays cassettes! she added. Meanwhile,
will you be renewing your warranty?

GLOSSARY

a 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 doesnt
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 arent 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
wont 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

THE KILL SWITCH

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