The Times: The perils in a man's laptop
By David Rowan
A man who used a laptop computer on his lap for an hour needed medical treatment for burns and blistering, according to a doctor. Claes-Goran Ostenson, a professor of molecular medicine based at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, describes the case from Sweden in clinical detail in The Lancet, and says the man's injuries "should be taken as a serious warning against use of a laptop computer in a literal sense".
The man, a 50-year-old scientist with two children, had taken work home with him and, as he laboured with his laptop sitting on his lap, he noticed a slight burning sensation that seemed to subside when he changed positions. The next day he found his genital area covered in burns and blisters, injuries that his doctor attributes to excessive heat from the computer.
Professor Ostensen said that the man presented with irritation in his genital area as well as inch-long blistering that, once infected, caused "extensive suppuration". He said: "The patient recalled that, while sitting two days earlier with his computer on his lap, he had occasionally felt heat and a burning feeling on his lap and proximal thigh, a sensation that was relieved at least temporarily when the computer was moved slightly."
On checking the computer's manual, the man discovered an ominous safety warning, which stated: "Do not allow your portable computer to operate with the base resting directly on exposed skin. "With extended operation, heat can potentially build up in the base. Allowing sustained contact with the skin could cause discomfort or, eventually, a burn."
But this did not explain why the man, fully dressed in trousers and underpants, had sustained burns to his lap. Professor Ostenson does not name the make of laptop, but the warning appears identical to one supplied with Dell's Latitude model.
A spokeswoman for Dell UK said that the company had not come across any similar complaints. "The victim has not complained to Dell, and we have no record of the customer's injury," she said. The burnt man has since recovered.
(The Times, front page, November 23 2002)
A man who used a laptop computer on his lap for an hour needed medical treatment for burns and blistering, according to a doctor. Claes-Goran Ostenson, a professor of molecular medicine based at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, describes the case from Sweden in clinical detail in The Lancet, and says the man's injuries "should be taken as a serious warning against use of a laptop computer in a literal sense".
The man, a 50-year-old scientist with two children, had taken work home with him and, as he laboured with his laptop sitting on his lap, he noticed a slight burning sensation that seemed to subside when he changed positions. The next day he found his genital area covered in burns and blisters, injuries that his doctor attributes to excessive heat from the computer.
Professor Ostensen said that the man presented with irritation in his genital area as well as inch-long blistering that, once infected, caused "extensive suppuration". He said: "The patient recalled that, while sitting two days earlier with his computer on his lap, he had occasionally felt heat and a burning feeling on his lap and proximal thigh, a sensation that was relieved at least temporarily when the computer was moved slightly."
On checking the computer's manual, the man discovered an ominous safety warning, which stated: "Do not allow your portable computer to operate with the base resting directly on exposed skin. "With extended operation, heat can potentially build up in the base. Allowing sustained contact with the skin could cause discomfort or, eventually, a burn."
But this did not explain why the man, fully dressed in trousers and underpants, had sustained burns to his lap. Professor Ostenson does not name the make of laptop, but the warning appears identical to one supplied with Dell's Latitude model.
A spokeswoman for Dell UK said that the company had not come across any similar complaints. "The victim has not complained to Dell, and we have no record of the customer's injury," she said. The burnt man has since recovered.
(The Times, front page, November 23 2002)
posted by David Rowan at Saturday, November 23, 2002
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