Why programs fail and get hacked

“People’s distrust of the high-pressure engines was confirmed when the boiler of a stationary engine exploded at Greenwich on 8 September 1803. It was the usual tale; the boy who had been trained to work the engine went off to catch eels and a labourer stopped the engine without releasing the safety valve.” Richard Hills, Power from Steam, Cambridge 1989.

I posted this to Risks digest in 1995. Software is still in the pre-safety equipment steam boiler stage.