But it’s supposed to work

I tried to help my son install his new refrigerator but we ran into several problems. The new refrigerator was wider than the last one. This is not a problem in most instances but there were some very closely installed countertops. In order to get the new one in, a counter top had to be taken out and cut down. We wanted to install the icemaker but routing the water supply tubing proved to be an engineering project all in its own. Then all was ready and the supply line was tested, some minor tightening and we were ready to purge the line of air. However nothing happened; we heard water running but none came out of where it should have; however there was water on the floor.

A simple device—automatically filled ice cubes and cold water on demand should not been a problem but the machine didn't cooperate. Maybe it was trying to tell us "Go back to basics, fill the trays yourself." I started to think about other automatic devices that didn't work For example, the electric door locks on my car wouldn't open from the driver's side. I have to open it myself. My wife's' car has electrical heated windshield wipers when they're in the park position (I guess so they won't stick to a snow covered windshield). They don't work. My next neighbor's garage door opener doesn't work; he has to open it by hand. There's a video on YouTube which shows an Air France AirBus with the new flight computer that prevent the pilot from making extreme maneuvers. In this case the computer prevented in from gaining altitude too fast; a "fly-by-wire" if you will. The video shows the plane skimming across the runway and going past it into a forest of medium tall trees. You don't see the crash only the column of smoke from the impact site. Obviously that computer didn't work; and what was the most tragic, the pilot couldn't disengage it in time.

We put a lot of faith in gadgets that are supposed to help us get through the day—labor saving devices. Most of time they work and sometimes they don't. Here are some suggested automotive devices for the future:

1. Electrically operated brakes—the brake pedal only becomes a switch that when pressed transmits power to an electric motor which send brake fluid to all the wheel cylinders. There will be no direct contact with the brake fluid as there is currently. The "power brakes" of today are vacuum assisted from the engine.

2. Electrical steering—again little motors will push and pull the steering linkage in the direction we want to go. Currently we have a direct mechanical contact with our wheels, assisted by power steering fluid via a belt driven pump.

3. In order to operate all the extra electrical equipment, car voltage will be increased to 34 volts. The alternator will producing so much power that is will need to be cooled by antifreeze from the radiator via, you guessed it, an electric pump.

Now you can imagine when my electrical window lock wouldn't open I merely have to pull up on the door lock. When my neighbor's garage door doesn't open electrically he opens it by hand. When the ice cube maker doesn't work, you fill the trays with water and leave them to freeze. How do you steer a car or stop it with a failed single source electrical system?

K.