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points by andy99 2 days ago | 0 comments
Yes there’s a whole regulatory capture movement plus a bunch of the usual useful idiots pushing for some kind of mechanism to be included in power saws.

It’s not too different from all the nanny state stuff people push for in cars. In Europe already cars beep at you if they think you’re going over the speed limit, and also suck at detecting the correct speed limit.

Or like the Zune that was designed for copyright holders instead of users. It’s all the same, the problem is stuff that’s not made for users and made for someone else’s agenda. They don’t do well in a free market (like the Zune) which is why we always see accompanying regulatory capture efforts.

[–] eightysixfour 2 days ago
Using the StopSaw as an example here isn’t doing you many favors, even though I agree with the underlying premise. The StopSaw is closer to seat belts and airbags than beeping for going over the speed limit.
[–] phil21 2 days ago
Seatbelts famously had the patent gifted to the public commons.

Sawstop is the exact opposite. It was used by giant firms to try to regulatory capture the industry.

[–] andy99 2 days ago
No it’s some nanny state nonsense pushed by people who have never done construction work and are grifting to try and get money for their product. The upstream post picked it as an example of something absurd, seemingly unaware it existed. It is absurd but apparently some cohort of people is either stupid or controlling enough to actually support the company behind it in their scam.
[–] alex43578 2 days ago
That damn government can’t tell me not to cut my fingers off. I’ll show them!
[–] cowlevel 2 days ago
It's not a magic system. Sometimes it nuisance trips, costing $200 and a day to replace. And the machine is more expensive. And the whole project is regulatory capture because one company owns the patent on the idea of a self stopping saw. That's a problem right?

Like if they mandated every computer would have a CSAM scanner on it, that wouldn't transmit or store anything, but would just stop you opening files it flagged as CSAM, that would be a problem because sometimes it would incorrectly flag a file as CSAM, yes? But proponents of the system would probably say "That gosh darn government stopping you from watching child porn" and nothing you could ever say to them would make them reverse their position? And then the only detection model that's allowed to exist and meet the government mandated requirements is an opaque blob from Meta?

[–] alex43578 2 days ago
$119 or $139, not $200. It's also free via RMA if it was genuinely an accidental discharge. I've not had to replace one myself, but there's a YouTube short showing the replacement in what looks like 10 minutes, rather than a whole day - I've definitely spent more time shopvacing my floor after a project.

It's really not a problem because it's a reasonable safety feature, and I don't see any regulations that specify "SawStop". Harvey and Altendorf are making similar mechanisms, for instance.

Are you saying the government won't let you use a regular saw as a hobbyist, at a workplace, or with your employees? Those are 3 very different situations in my view.

[–] PoignardAzur 2 days ago
> In Europe already cars beep at you if they think you’re going over the speed limit, and also suck at detecting the correct speed limit.

Speaking as someone who drove a car just two days ago, they... don't? You might want to source that claim.