Unregulated free enterprise at its worst
These days, people moan about "health and safety gone mad", and various regulations that restrict free enterprise. Stories like this make you realise what it was like for ordinary folks before we had all these rules and regulations. Speaking as an electronic design engineer, I don't mind at all that the products I design have to meet standards for electrical safety. I certainly would not want to live with the thought that I had electrocuted somebody because I did not do my job properly.
I recently watched a documentary on PBS America, about the building of Grand Central terminal in New York. The original terminal was built by the Vanderbilts, who were the richest family in the USA at the time, based on monopolising railroads over large parts of the USA. The safety record for the first version of the terminal and its adjoining railyard was appalling. As New York grew up around the terminal, people had to cross the tracks with no bridges to help, and were frequently run over. Cornelius Vanderbilt had not the slightest inclination to remedy this situation, because it would cost money with no return on the investment. Eventually, the tracks were rebuilt under the streets, and a magnificent cathedral-like edifice was built over the platforms.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
