

Smoking apparently voids your Mac warranty - anigbrowl
http://consumerist.com/5408885/smoking-near-apple-computers-creates-biohazard-voids-warranty

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Retric
I don't know about the rest of the article, but _chlorine (used in swimming
pools), hydrogen peroxide (also used to clean wounds), sucrose (a sugar), talc
(as in powder), etc... as hazardous substances._ Chlorine is highly toxic in
concentrated form. and both sucrose and talc are dangerous in powdered form
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_explosion>. See:
<http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/foia/hot_6.html>.

PS: If you want to be frighted ask a fire department what they would do if a
pool supply store caught on fire.

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anigbrowl
Indeed, but the risk varies considerably depending on the quantity. Otherwise
visiting the supermarket or drug store would be a life-or-death decision. I'm
having a little trouble believing that OSHA compliance in this case would
require anything more stringent than wearing a pair of latex gloves (which
have the side benefit of rendering those annoying anti-static wristbands
unnecessary).

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kd5bjo
Latex gloves will make the static problem worse, not better. Static builds up
on insulating surfaces because the electrons don't have anywhere to go.

~~~
anigbrowl
You're right. What was I thinking? Sorry.

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maukdaddy
Am I supposed to be outraged? I think this is an excellent policy by Apple. If
you want to smoke and screw up your computer, don't expect Apple pay to fix
it. Keeps the rest of our costs down.

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dhimes
_Keeps the rest of our costs down_

I was wondering why they were so affordable.

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ebrenes
The bottom line is that Apple will do anything in its power to avoid expenses
that might impact their bottom line. This policy seems in accordance with
others like having the humidity sensors and other "abuse" detectors
incorporated into their products.

It's interesting to see this trend in Apple's policies, but I doubt they will
have an overall effect in consumer spending. Most people will only find out
about these holes in coverage until after they've purchased the machine and I
don't think this will impact future purchases (e.g., "Go back to Windows?
Never!").

Yet it's hardly what I would call a premium experience and much better
coverage can be had elsewhere if you look for it.

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pavelludiq
Are these people telling me i can't smoke in front of my computer? I do my own
maintenance anyway(had to replace some fans a couple times, voided my warranty
in the process). Sucks for ordinary people though. Hackers are sensitive to
stupid rules, and in this case non-hackers got upset because of them, that
means that the rules are extra stupid.

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kylec
Go right ahead and smoke at your computer - just don't expect other people to
fix it

~~~
pavelludiq
There are many questions to be asked here. What is the impact of smoke to the
machine? Is working on a contaminated machine actually dangerous? How many of
the machines are taged as contaminated? Is that number high enough to be
really dangerous if this rule didn't exist? Should there be a disclaimer
explicitly stating that smoking voids the warranty?

With so many unknowns, i can't take this seriously, so i wrote my half-joking
comment.

p.s. I am genuinely interested to know the effects of smoking on computers. I
know it will kill me eventually, but what about my computer?

~~~
anigbrowl
You hard drive isn't airtight, so it's likely to accelerate failure. On PCBs,
it creates a sticky residue and increases dust buildup, increasing the
likelihood of a short circuit (somewhat) and a fire (very marginally).

'Smoke-free' equipment is definitely a selling in the market for music studio
electronics, since (some) musicians smoke a lot and old dirty gear tends to be
noisy and crackly because all the pots, faders, connections and so on may have
years' worth of residue built up. ProTip: most people (an cleaning solutions)
use isopropyl alcohol, but like all solvents this damages finishes and can
affect electrical conductivity. There's stuff called Deoxit which is not too
expensive and preferred by a lot of people for high-end electronics
maintenance.

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jsz0
As a smoker I can see their point but it makes me wonder why protective gear
is not standard procedure? There are lots of nasty things besides smoke that
can accumulate on a computer.

