Strikes and panic buying - why the hype? We have recently endured a strike by the petroleum workers and it had the whole country in a panic. There were long queues at the petrol stations, shortages, and people driving around frantically for fuel, but wasting the precious stuff in their quest.
Vivian MacFadyen
In retrospect, the whole matter became a needless and costly comedy. I am sure that some individuals became wealthier from the negotiations, but it was not the workers. The strikers were out for eight days, and if you consider the settlement minus the losses to the workers, the outcome may be even lower than the employers were prepared to pay in the first place.
This illustrates how people can be manipulated by clever presentation of the facts. This also happens in our industry; just look at manufacturers' product specification sheets. The accuracy of products is frequently quoted with reference to vague and complicated formulae making comparisons almost impossible without plotting the curves on a graph.
Other aspects are also highlighted beyond their relevance. These could involve simple issues such as caged terminal screws, calibration procedure, or programmability. Once the lid is on and it is working, what is the relevance of these matters? An astute engineer will disregard all issues excepting those specifically related to the function and reliability in operation. In fact, it may be that only two issues are relevant: mean time between failure and price.
What about accuracy you ask. Well, in the majority of instances, the accuracy of a product is far better than the situation requires. If you only need to measure temperature to 1,0°C, why buy something that measures better than 0,1 K. These decisions need to be made in the cold light of reason. Weigh up the reliability of the supplier, the product and the cost for the particular application. This is where skill and experience make the difference.
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