Yes. I endorse your corrections. I was eliding systemic errors in the interest of brevity.
The main point I was trying to make is that mass failures that occur with a degree of simultaneity where the failure can not be corrected between failures are relatively rare outside of internet-connected software due to an access problem. Even the cases you mentioned are generally less dangerous because you can stop usage when an error is detected. If you discover that after 10,000 hours of operation the brakes on all of your cars stop working while driving, it is unlikely that everybody will encounter this problem at the same time. A few will encounter the problem first which will let you detect the error and then work to rectify it or recall your cars before it becomes a truly catastrophic error. It is a truly rare problem where a mass produced product contains a catastrophic defect that will affect a large percentage of them simultaneously. The only ones I can really think of are drugs with long-term unexpected side effects or a response to an equally massive cause like the Carrington Event coronal mass ejection which blew out the electrical grid in 1859.
> The only ones I can really think of are drugs with long-term unexpected side effects or a response to an equally massive cause like the Carrington Event coronal mass ejection which blew out the electrical grid in 1859.
I'd count the mass ejection as a natural disaster rather than the failure of a system, but the harm is just the same of course.
Related to your medicine example: bad dietary advice could be similar to this. We're straying some ways from technological systems here, of course.
The main point I was trying to make is that mass failures that occur with a degree of simultaneity where the failure can not be corrected between failures are relatively rare outside of internet-connected software due to an access problem. Even the cases you mentioned are generally less dangerous because you can stop usage when an error is detected. If you discover that after 10,000 hours of operation the brakes on all of your cars stop working while driving, it is unlikely that everybody will encounter this problem at the same time. A few will encounter the problem first which will let you detect the error and then work to rectify it or recall your cars before it becomes a truly catastrophic error. It is a truly rare problem where a mass produced product contains a catastrophic defect that will affect a large percentage of them simultaneously. The only ones I can really think of are drugs with long-term unexpected side effects or a response to an equally massive cause like the Carrington Event coronal mass ejection which blew out the electrical grid in 1859.