It isn't only about the engines; BA 009 did suffer engine failure over 20 years ago, and they managed to restart all their engines and land, but the incident didn't stop at the engines. On final approach, they also found out that they could hardly see outside. Once they landed (doing an instrument landing), they also found out that all the attack surfaces had been sandblasted; the wings, the tail, but also the windshield. Flying through microscopic particles of stone or glass isn't just a danger for the engines.

Technically, end users are told not to install firmware upgrades unless told to by a representative, to correct existing problems or dangers. Ok, so most geeks don't hesitate to flash mainboard BIOS chips, and in the worst case, the mainboard boots up form a secondary BIOS to reflash the primary. The point is, mainboard updates are there to correct small issues; memory latency, support for newer CPUs, etc etc. Most of the time, a firmware "bug" will just cause minor annoyances. A firmware "bug" on a car is, potentially, a killer. I know, I'm going to extremes, but the aeronautics industry has a different view on firmware updates. If a bug is found, if a new firmware comes out (passing all the tests), they flash it, end of story. If I were in the same situation, I'd accept any firmware update that comes from a manufacturer that affects critical components. If it only affects the CD player or the wipers, I wouldn't bother, but if it affected the brake pedal, I'd personally go for it. Yes, there are risks, but I still have confidence in a computer flying me with humans "suggesting" actions to a computer every time I fly an Airbus.

In France, you'll find contracts talking about speed, but everything will say "up to". My home line goes "up to" 8Mbit/s, but it more around 6. A friend has a 100Mbit/s connection, but he seems to peak at about 35-40. There is actually relatively little difference in price between different offers; most go for a flat fee of around 35 Euros a month for unlimited Internet (up to 8, 18 or x Mbit/s), unlimited national phone calls via VoIP, and free TV via ADSL. If I get the full 8 as advertised, well, great! I get 6, and I pay the same fee. However, if it goes radically under that, like 1Mbit/s our even 512k, then they do lower their prices. Here, we pay to get connected, not for speed. Speed is just luck, somehow.

I used to be an iPhone dev too, but I've completely given in. XCode is beautiful, working on MacOS X is a dream, iPhones are incredible, but I really, really hate it when a control freak sends me back my application because an icon is a few pixels to the left than what they were expecting. The Apple iPhone Guidelines isn't a guideline, it's a Bible, and any transgression is immediately punished by sending the app back with a fat "No" written on the email. I've had apps refused for graphical problems (i.e. they didn't like my icon), for too much functionality (i.e. One application should do only one thing, and do it well) even though the extra functionality can be defended and explained as "necessary". So I quit my job, and I'm back doing embedded Linux projects. I still have an iPhone, but with the recent events concerning Google and Apple, quite honestly I've given in and I'm looking for a new phone. As for iPhone development, I've had job offers, and I've refused every single one. Apple development is history as far as I'm concerned.