Thank you from me as well. Here's my situation:
Primary computer (gaming computer):
1 500GB drive with SD15 firmware

Secondary computer (used to be my file server):
4 500GB drives with SD15 firmware
-1 of the 4 is by itself...a stand alone drive (OS drive)
-The other 3 are in a RAID 5 configuration
-2 of the 4 bought in December, the other two purchased in November and October.

Last week I bought a Dlink DNS 323 NAS and put two 1.5TB Seagate drives in it (just checked firmwares: CC1G and SD37). I actually had to exchange a drive at Tiger Direct because it would not let me copy anything to it at all...and basically froze up my system (I suspect that drive was affected by the original 1.5TB drive issue you talked about).

All drives are working fine right now (knock on wood)

I too am wary of RAID 0 and I am backup-happy. My D-link runs the two drives in RAID 1 configuration and my RAID 5 stores backups from my NAS. Above average backup situation for most home users...but with the potential of losing my ability to access those drives at least temporarily, I decided to take it a step further and backup files I consider to be critical (work files I can recover, but don't want to have to recover, and software I paid for and downloaded, ie it's the only copy I have or it would be very difficult to get it again) to a drive I know is not affected by this...one which I rarely use.

If what you say is true (and from the depth of your explanations, I think it's pretty safe to say you know what you are talking about) then this is a really rare condition that occurs...it has to write to the error log at exactly the right time...just before you reboot and before the next error is recorded to that log. That's reassuring to know that just because you have that firmware that is affected...doesn't mean the issue will occur.

I'm not about to update my firmware until I get confirmations from a lot of people that the issues have been fixed with a new firmware...I see no point in being hasty about updates with drives that are working properly. "If it ain't broke don't fix it!"

Again, thank you for your explanations. They are very much appreciated.

They are focusing on the headline because it is a sensationalist headline. It does not accurately describe the ACTUAL story (not the story presented by the linked story).

The story linked is sensationalist as it calls what Apple did indentured servitude...which it is not. Indentured Servitude involves debt that the worker
has to pay off. In order to pay it off they work for the employer. Now unless I read the story wrong...the workers mentioned are not in debt to Apple at all.
They have the right to leave whenever they want...they can quit and find another job. No one is forcing them (either through physical cruelty (such as experienced in slavery) or through a contract (indentured servitude)) to work for Apple.

That's not saying the issue they are facing is not a serious one. If the charges Apple is faced with are true...Apple should absolutely pay the overtime benefits the workers are due and properly categorize them so they get the proper benefits for the work they do.