> It then “exploded” just as he was throwing it out the window. The watch left burn marks on the user’s couch. He also ended up visiting the emergency room because of lead poisoning concerns, but it’s important to remember the Apple Watch does not actually contain nearly enough lead to actually cause poisoning. He was simply concerned about it.
Wow, quite a few surprising angles here. I didn't expect the extra MI:7 drama or the burnt couch.
(Meanwhile, it's also kind of funny to note that CountyComm just released a barebones Casio homage for $25.)
Hmmm. Not to sound overly skeptical, but I find it a little weird that in none of the images/video the watch itself has a band attached to it. Did the wearer take off the band after it started overheating? If so, why? I personally have an Apple Watch (the 4) and it takes me forever to get the band off whenever I want to clean it. I certainly wouldn't take the time to fiddle with removing the band if it was seemingly about to explode.
Did you guys even read the story? It states this occurred over 2 days (at least) - plenty of time to take the bands off (especially since they weren’t the cause/relevant, and user likely expected to only have to send in the watch unit itself eventually).
If the watch was seriously overheating constantly, I wouldn’t try to take the bands of.
If it wasn’t, there certainly is info missing from this story.
I think there’s info missing anyways. For example, the Apple Watch Series 7 has a battery life of less than a day. I can’t see that getting longer when it’s overheating. Even if this occurred overnight (“over 2 days (at least)”, IMO, is not what the article says. It could have started overheating at night, and ‘exploded’ early next morning), did he try to recharge the watch after Apple told him not to touch it?
Some bands on their site cost upwards of $1000. I don't find it suspicious at all that someone would take the band off if the device appears to be entering the lithium battery death spiral.
The article writes: "There was no solution or advice provided after this call, just instructions to not touch the watch until he heard back from the company."
I'm honestly surprised that after the Samsung Note fiasco that Apple support is this bad on the topic. I would have expected a dedicated flow for "flagged as high battery combustion risk" from someone like them. I understand that this is a risk with these types of lithium batteries, but if a user calls support for a premium product and support doesn't immediately recognize the situation I entirely blame the company.
The fact that they went to the "Emergency Room" because they were concerned about lead poisoning is - if it ever were needed - a strong indication that schools need to teach some very basic chemistry.
> The fact that they went to the "Emergency Room" because they were concerned about lead poisoning is - if it ever were needed - a strong indication that schools need to teach some very basic chemistry.
why did you put Emergency Room in quotes? they do exist, I assure you.
electronics have parts soldered to a PCB, and historically solder contained lead. it's not chemistry knowledge that is lacking, it is up to date info on what materials are actually in electronics and batteries these days.
Yes, and you can sit and eat solder all day long without getting lead poisoning.
Even metallic mercury isn't especially poisonous, and indeed people used to use it as a "purgative" at which it no doubt excelled, dropping through your guts pushing all before it.
It's the organic salts you need to worry about. The pure metal is about as bioavailable as sand, but lead salts - and in particular organic salts - are really quite spectacularly poisonous. That's what did the Romans in, after all - boiling up wine and grapes in lead pots to make "defrutum", where the lead reacted to form lead acetate. Stick a bloody great heavy metal atom onto the end of a nice big sugar? Sure, that'll help it get into your system!
ok, all of that is fine and dandy but that's not what this is about. the subject of the article was worried about lead poisoning, probably from what they knew about lead solder. they were probably not eating the watch, or boiling it with mashed fruit, so I have a hard time believing that they went to the hospital because they believe they ingested heavy metals.
You can't get lead poisoning from lead solder, though. It doesn't even make sense to think you could get lead poisoning from a damaged Apple Watch, or any other bit of electronics.
This is why I said it's important to have a bit of physical literacy in your life.
Which brings us back round to "everyone should do at least a tiny bit of science at school, if only so they know what things are likely to be dangerous and what aren't".
It's okay not to know how hedge funds work or how proteins clump together. It's very much not okay to have no idea how compound interest works or whether or not you can get lead poisoning from picking up a car battery.
“The following morning, however, the situation escalated even further. […] It then “exploded” just as he was throwing it out the window. The watch left burn marks on the user’s couch.”
How do people not know that it’s bad to leave smoking things (and potentially explode-y things) out overnight, to put them on couches, etc.? Honestly.
What surprises me is that the user wasn’t instructed to shut it down to prevent further overheating (Apple might have told them - not clear from the story)
> An Apple Watch Series 7 user is speaking out after their device overheated... this Apple Watch user explained that he was wearing it when he noticed that it was getting much hotter than usual.... For further context, this user was in their house where the temperature was just over 70 degrees Fahrenheit...
"Their" , than "his", then "their" again. I do not understand this trend of using "they" when there is clearly no harm, and enough evidence, to say "he" or "she". It is sad when speech becomes muddy and ambiguous without any obvious benefit. Sincerely, a non-native speaker.
Well, I think in this particular case, the mixed usage of different pronouns is what makes it unclear. There’s usually nothing wrong with using singular “they” - and it’s not a new thing, not by a long shot.
English has always been muddy and ambiguous. Very few rules, unclear pronunciation among other quirks. Especially compared to stricter and easy-to-pronounce languages like Spanish.
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[ 5.7 ms ] story [ 68.7 ms ] threadWow, quite a few surprising angles here. I didn't expect the extra MI:7 drama or the burnt couch.
(Meanwhile, it's also kind of funny to note that CountyComm just released a barebones Casio homage for $25.)
If it wasn’t, there certainly is info missing from this story.
I think there’s info missing anyways. For example, the Apple Watch Series 7 has a battery life of less than a day. I can’t see that getting longer when it’s overheating. Even if this occurred overnight (“over 2 days (at least)”, IMO, is not what the article says. It could have started overheating at night, and ‘exploded’ early next morning), did he try to recharge the watch after Apple told him not to touch it?
The article writes: "There was no solution or advice provided after this call, just instructions to not touch the watch until he heard back from the company."
I'm honestly surprised that after the Samsung Note fiasco that Apple support is this bad on the topic. I would have expected a dedicated flow for "flagged as high battery combustion risk" from someone like them. I understand that this is a risk with these types of lithium batteries, but if a user calls support for a premium product and support doesn't immediately recognize the situation I entirely blame the company.
why did you put Emergency Room in quotes? they do exist, I assure you.
electronics have parts soldered to a PCB, and historically solder contained lead. it's not chemistry knowledge that is lacking, it is up to date info on what materials are actually in electronics and batteries these days.
Even metallic mercury isn't especially poisonous, and indeed people used to use it as a "purgative" at which it no doubt excelled, dropping through your guts pushing all before it.
It's the organic salts you need to worry about. The pure metal is about as bioavailable as sand, but lead salts - and in particular organic salts - are really quite spectacularly poisonous. That's what did the Romans in, after all - boiling up wine and grapes in lead pots to make "defrutum", where the lead reacted to form lead acetate. Stick a bloody great heavy metal atom onto the end of a nice big sugar? Sure, that'll help it get into your system!
This is why I said it's important to have a bit of physical literacy in your life.
it's ok to not know stuff, sometimes.
It's okay not to know how hedge funds work or how proteins clump together. It's very much not okay to have no idea how compound interest works or whether or not you can get lead poisoning from picking up a car battery.
How do people not know that it’s bad to leave smoking things (and potentially explode-y things) out overnight, to put them on couches, etc.? Honestly.
"Their" , than "his", then "their" again. I do not understand this trend of using "they" when there is clearly no harm, and enough evidence, to say "he" or "she". It is sad when speech becomes muddy and ambiguous without any obvious benefit. Sincerely, a non-native speaker.
Sincerely, a non native speaker.
This issue here is the mixed pronouns. They/them as singular pronoun has existed longer than you have, and it's here to stay.