Software Is Everywhere, But It's Not Always an Upgrade
Two Boeing 737 Max crashes are raising questions about whether the convenience of software has made it easier to miss the seriousness of potential flaws.
Investigations into the causes of the two Boeing 737 Max crashes, in Indonesia and Ethiopia, have focused on software — and the possibility that it was autonomously pointing the planes' noses downward, acting without the pilots' consent.
It's a nightmare scenario. It's also a reminder that software is everywhere, sometimes doing things we don't expect.
This sank in for a lot of people four years ago, during the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal. It turned out that software inside the cars had been quietly running the engines in such a way as to cheat on emissions tests.
While it's always possible for manufacturers to use software dishonestly, the
