I am also a (software) engineer. I work on stuff that's much like the throttle controller on the Toyota without being directly automotive.
I don't think it's an opinion piece. It's just not journalism. People find Gladwell infuriating because he somewhat defies categorization and tries to take a very neutral, nonjudgemental tone. I said "essay" because that's as close as I could get.
I don't buy "acted maliciously". I don't agree that it was covered up. Malice implies intent; there was no intent. Indeed, that's the problem. There really isn't, to my knowledge, a fixed protocol for these things outside of whatever management or PR protocol you follow and then possibly the courts.
Toyota as an entity believed that it was acting responsibly.
From the article:
"The engineers were right. A series of exhaustive investigations by federal regulators, with help from NASA engineers, established that the perception of an electronic failure was almost certainly illusory. The problem was caused either by the fact that some people put in poorly fitted, nonstandard floor mats or by the fact that drivers were pressing the accelerator thinking that it was the brake."
For one, Gladwell isn't the one saying it was the floor mats. The team of Federal regulators, with help from NASA engineers said that. Toyota took this seriously and launched an investigation.
Prior to Micheal Barr's analysis, I'd say it was formally undecided whether there was a software problem. Even then, the defects found were not a smoking gun.
This is new territory. The Barr Group is one of the first of its kind.
I don't think it's an opinion piece. It's just not journalism. People find Gladwell infuriating because he somewhat defies categorization and tries to take a very neutral, nonjudgemental tone. I said "essay" because that's as close as I could get.
I don't buy "acted maliciously". I don't agree that it was covered up. Malice implies intent; there was no intent. Indeed, that's the problem. There really isn't, to my knowledge, a fixed protocol for these things outside of whatever management or PR protocol you follow and then possibly the courts.
Toyota as an entity believed that it was acting responsibly.
From the article: "The engineers were right. A series of exhaustive investigations by federal regulators, with help from NASA engineers, established that the perception of an electronic failure was almost certainly illusory. The problem was caused either by the fact that some people put in poorly fitted, nonstandard floor mats or by the fact that drivers were pressing the accelerator thinking that it was the brake."
For one, Gladwell isn't the one saying it was the floor mats. The team of Federal regulators, with help from NASA engineers said that. Toyota took this seriously and launched an investigation.
Prior to Micheal Barr's analysis, I'd say it was formally undecided whether there was a software problem. Even then, the defects found were not a smoking gun.
This is new territory. The Barr Group is one of the first of its kind.