Go get some popcorn. This is a
serious old-buzzard transmission, even for me, but this is a good debate being had respectfully and in good faith by both parties, and how often does that happen?
Thom, I don't doubt that you are being responsible. My argument is not against you personally so please don't be offended by my comments, that's not my intent at all.
I know you're not aiming at me personally, Phil. No offense taken. In return, I haven't been aiming personally at you.
If I do, protective orange eyewear is available online.
Nevertheless, you have been somewhat implying that anyone who would purchase this unit could only be doing so for nefarious purposes, and much of your argument had been based on that premise. My point was that the premise itself is faulty, and I'm living proof of that.
I realize that anything can be dangerous, hell a pencil can take out an eye but you wrote "the spot from this laser is bright enough to cause permanent eye damage if viewed for more than a quarter-second within 200 meters without eye protection" that's something to consider.
Sure, but the exact same fact is true of an arc welder. Actually, arc welders are
far brighter than that (and the same color), which is why welding goggles are so dark.
Yet, you can buy one at Sears, no training or license required, and there are no laws to stop you.
Should the same logic apply to arc welders as lasers? How about Tesla coils? They're both the same color as the laser, but brighter, and even capable of directly killing somebody, nevermind just causing eye damage.
And why is it shaped like a light sabre? Why do you think it was manufactured that way? That shape certainly can't help with precision cutting.
Actually, I find it quite comfortable to operate. My free-hand work wasn't the best, but practice makes perfect.
One could argue that a Maglite is shaped like a light saber. It's cylindrical, rugged, machined, and emits light out of one end when activated. Remove the lens housing from a four-cell Maglite and tell me you don't have the urge to take a swing at Darth Vader. Okay, maybe that's just me.
While we're at it, the handle of a stick welder looks an awful lot like a light saber, too, but I've drawn some pretty nice beads with them.
How many times do you hear in the news of someone causing death or damage with a Maglite or an arc welder because it looked like a light saber to them?
When I said it should be regulated, I should have said outlawed. Shipments of these things should not be allowed into the country, just like the lead paint toys and the tainted baby formula. I understand and agree with your "preemptive feel-good regulations" sentiment, but I don't think it applies here. What happens when Hong Kong starts exporting Mr. Fusion do it yourself nuclear reactors?, ok that was a joke.
Ah, so your
real beef is the fact that it was made in Hong Kong! I had a suspicion that was part of this. Okay, let's discuss that:
I would argue that baby formula and lead-paint toys don't apply here, or are at least a bad analogy. Those were products
specifically intended for children. In the case of the toys, children
with or without adult supervision. They posed a direct health hazard to a vulnerable portion of the population.
These lasers are not marketed to children, cannot be purchased by children, and
have been approved for import and use in this country. There are two completely separate interlocks, and the unit cannot be simply turned on even after the interlocks are closed. I can remove one of those insipid trigger locks from a handgun and fire it at someone faster than I can ignite this laser, and it takes twice that long to get it to full power once it's lit.
A kid might (okay, I'll even give you "will") think this thing looks incredibly cool. Hell, I'm pushing 40, and
I think this thing looks incredibly cool (there, I said it). But unlike the hazardous products we just discussed, this doesn't become hazardous just by someone being attracted to it and getting a hold of it. A kid would have to know how to defeat the interlocks, then know how to ignite the laser, then know how to get it to steady-beam mode, then know how to get it to full power. You cannot go directly from "off" to "on".
By contrast, the baby formula and lead-paint toys only needed to go into a kid's mouth to cause death or injury. One product was intended for that sole purpose, and the other was just as likely to wind up in a kid's mouth as anywhere. I would argue that there's no comparison there.
Yet on top of all that, if someone owned this thing
without keeping it locked somewhere kid proof, you'd have a pretty strong example of someone who doesn't deserve children, and I'd be all for rectifying
that legally. Hell, I'd hold the door for the state worker.
If you do some research on the unit (which, with all due respect, I suspect you've only done some quick perusal on), you'll find that I'm not making this stuff up, and the manufacturers take safety
very seriously. You should see the mountain of cautions-and-warnings paperwork that came with this thing.
On the Hong Kong angle, don't forget that their manufacturing and exports to the U.S. far predates their re-assimilation into mainland China. We were allied with Hong Kong while it was a British possession, and The Party knew not to mess with success when they got it back. If anything, China went more Hong Kong than Hong Kong went China. What is built in Hong Kong cannot really be compared to what is built in Shanghai.
If someone made a laser like this here, I'd buy it here. We don't make stuff here anymore. I'm not happy with that state of affairs either, but one must play the cards they're dealt. Personally, I have no problem with the idea of a 100% tariff on all Chinese imports as long as they're going to keep playing games with their currency; but that's a trade issue, and we'd have to devolve into a political discussion to address that. That's a discussion we're both better off having with our respective elected officials than each other.
Mr. Fusion? You betchyerass! If it cuts my utility costs down
and shuts up the Green Police about my "carbon footprint", put two of 'em in every house, no matter
who makes 'em!
Yes, you were joking; but again, I would be more concerned with the owner than I would with the existence of the device.
Your concerns are all valid. This device
can be dangerous. Still, there are many common devices with far worse hazards, which we accept as a consequence of the technology. I do not feel there is any need to rush to a ban on something that has so many positive uses yet to be discovered by industrious enthusiasts. The risk of stifling potential innovation is just too high for me.
Okay, I'm done now. I don't know who's next in the rotation, or who's still here, but whoever gets it, gets it. Over!
--Thom
Killer Agony One Zorched Green Cornea