this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026
497 points (97.2% liked)
Technology
83452 readers
2839 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
You wouldn't and they didn't.
The article has just failed to inform the readers (the few that got past the headline), that this was on his personal Surface Tablet and not on anything associated with the mission.
If it's on the ship, it's associated with the mission. Windows has a very high habit of barfing so over itself, as is evidenced by this article. It's bonkers to me that they chose to use Windows for anything at all.
I don't think the phone in my pocket is "associated with my job" when I'm working, just because it's in the same location. Do you?
False equivalency.
If you were going on a 10 day hike to the most remote location on earth, would you bring the most unreliable device you could find, or something you can count on?
You don't understand. Their personal device can be trashed immediately without any drawbacks to the mission.
If I go on a 10 day hike to the most remote location on Earth, and bring my yoyo to have some fun with, I really don't care if it breaks on my hike, and the hike is not affected except for my not having fun with my yoyo.
No, I do understand. I still think it's a bad decision. It's not just about how critical to the mission it is. It's useful as a form of communication with family and entertainment. In that context I do think it's "important". And also in that context, I would want something reliable.
Absolutely agree. It's still wrong that it's associated with the mission, and it's not "absolutely bonkers" to not really think about the email client you use.
Tbh nowadays mail software kinda sucks all around, not just Outlook
I disagree
Alright, you've convinced me
Then my job here is done!
The tablets are a convenience, not a requirement and so being commercial off the shelf means it's cheaper and it works well enough than what purpose-built hardware and software.
If every tablet died, the mission would proceed without pause. Except the astronauts would be checking gauges instead of looking at a system monitor on their tablet and not sending as many e-mails.