
AmazonBasics Electronics Fire Safety Investigation - SethMurphy
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/10/business/amazonbasics-electronics-fire-safety-invs/index.html
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FerretFred
Shopping with Amazon has become increasingly difficult. I can no longer rely
on the reviews, and the volume of results that come up for even a simple
search make for a lot of searching. Amazon really, _really_ need to stop being
the dumpster for cheap and nasty China-manufactured goods. And yes, of course
I'm welcome to shop elsewhere if I don't like what's on offer, and that's what
I'm increasingly doing. Bezos' loss, but he'll never notice.

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bradgessler
I miss the Amazon from yesteryear when Prime was first launched. You could
confidently read and trust the reviews, 1-click buy the item when satisfied,
and have it show up 1-2 days later. Today that magic is lost; it’s mostly a
huge junk store with untrustworthy reviews.

Something I can’t really get my head around is that it seems like such an
obvious problem to identify within Amazon’s ranks, and correcting it feels
like something within their means, but they just ... don’t.

Are there any e-commerce sites that exist today with the same magic Amazon use
to have?

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ve55
Articles like this aren't helpful because they pick and exhibit a few case
studies instead of attempting to estimate base rates and risk proportions - of
course some Amazon products have caught on fire, Amazon has sold a billion of
them. What needs to be provided in this type of reporting is actual estimates
of how many of the products may be dangerous, which is of course never
provided or even attempted as an estimate.

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TimSchumann
I disagree with the assertion that this type of article isn't helpful. I would
say it's 'not scientific', but not unhelpful.

I don't think Amazon is likely to release those statistics anytime soon, but
I'm glad people are talking about this as it may change perception on both
sides. Either the consumer sees this article and purchases less 'Amazon
Basics' branded products, or someone inside Amazon sees it and decides to do
something about it.

Not optimal, but far from unhelpful.

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mike503
I was under the impression AmazonBasics was very much like Costco’s Kirkland
brand, where they relabeled some other manufacturer's products. Maybe I’m
wrong. Or it’s hit and miss.

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ars
This article is just a stupid hit piece.

A USB cord is not responsible for detecting short circuits. That's the job of
the charger not the cord.

The best cord in the entire universe cannot prevent short circuits.

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ctrl-j
A short circuit is usually a wiring issue. A poorly manufactured USB cable can
_certainly_ cause a short circuit.

Fire investigators are also well versed in the forensic investigation of these
scenes. If his expert analysis determined the cord was at fault, there's a
good chance it was the cable and not the device.

~~~
sigstoat
> A short circuit is usually a wiring issue. A poorly manufactured USB cable
> can certainly cause a short circuit.

yes. also extremely high quality cables which have been damaged in the field
can develop a short.

power supplies intended for use by users who cannot/will not inspect their
cabling for damage (morally) should detect that the output is shorted and stop
applying a voltage.

they're the only device in the "charger, cable, chargee" chain that can do
anything about the situation.

