Exposed Elements
Our home had a fancy, high end dishwasher we inherited from the previous owners. It was stainless steel throughout and matched the other appliances in the kitchen. However, unlike other high end dishwashers, it had an exposed element. This was a disaster waiting to happen.
I never really understood the placement of an exposed heating element at the bottom of a dishwasher. Food, cutlery, and other debris can land on top of the element and cause buring and damage. I’m sure it’s a cheaper way to design a dishwasher and maybe even more efficient as the heat can directly radiate onto the surface of the dishes that need to dry
In the case of our dishwasher, there was a cascading failure. The spray arm became misaligned and caught on the element. A plastic gear in the arm then melted and seized the arm in place, which caused the spray arm motor to overheat. The resulting repair would have cost more than the dishwasher and double a name brand on the market. We ended up replacing it.
Many products have the equivalent of an exposed element. Are there controls in place over the upload of documents? How about code injection protections? Are there sneeze guards over the buffet? How do you prevent eavesdropping in waiting rooms?
Security and privacy by design go beyond just software and extend to all aspects of products and services.
