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Igorian
Studders said:How the computer industry has got away with things for so long is a mystery to me (well it is and it isn't), can you imagine buying a domestic appliance that 'might work OK' then again 'might not'?
Not a fair comparison really. A washing machine washes, a cooker cooks. But neither can do both and you can't buy 'add-ons' that will make them.
PCs are dynamic beasts. We add new hardware, update the software daily, mix components from different manufacturers. We expect them to be word processors, games machines, control systems, communication devices, database managers, music makers...
When you consider the amount of variables involved, it's amazing that they work at all!
As an example of exploits in the appliance world, take a gas hob. We all know you turn on the gas and then press the ignition button. But there is nothing to stop you from turning on the gas and not igniting it! Is this a bug, feature or exploit?