I'm looking for a few ideas from you folks.
I'm looking for epic failures that are the result of something very simple. The only thing I can really think of is the space shuttle Challenger. A simple o-ring killed 7 people and cost billions.
Any ideas?
http://www.matscieng.sunysb.edu/disaster/
might give you a few
Mars Probe Lost Due to Simple Math Error
[Edit: My example will definitely be listed in the link Apexcarver gave]
I have a whole book on the subject somewhere, but I think its back at my moms house.
Here is one similar to Apexcarver's.
Mariner 1 (1962): The first US spacecraft dispatched to Venus drifts badly off course because of an error in its guidance system. The error is a small one -- a wrong punctuation character in a single line of code -- but the course deviation is large. Mariner 1 ends up in the Atlantic Ocean.
Divide-by-zero strands the USS Yorktown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yorktown_%28CG-48%29#Smart_ship_testbed
Don't forget the Ariane 5 rocket that blew up on the first launch because of a fairly simple software issue.
In reply to JoeyM:
Bad title? First time I've seen a wikipedia error. Maybe you broke the internets. 
Fine 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yorktown
(now click on the Ticonderoga-class cruiser and scroll dodwn to smart ship testbed)
Metric conversion...http://www.wadenelson.com/gimli.html
The humble cotter pin might be behind many epic failures.
In reply to JoeyM:
That hilarious! You know the Mac guys got to love that.
Yeah, what did they expect, running NT? They got the Blue Screen of Death.
My Challenge car didn't make it in 2009 because of a zip tie.
While installing the Megasquirt, I clipped a zip tie whose scrap eventually ended up in the gasket while trying to seat the intake manifold in a rush. It created an air leak which we couldn't tune around- it kept trying to increase the fuel to compensate for the extra air and flooding #1 cyl.
Never got it running in time. Discovered the zip tie 2 weeks after the Challenge.
Too bad it wasn't that most solid mix of Windows versions: Windows CE,ME,NT :)
I have wailed on my left hand with a 3# sledge more than I should have while trying to hit a cold chisel. Not really expensive but pretty epic as far as my pain receptors were concerned.
One time, I thought I had to fart a little... and... well, you know the rest.
GPS , do you wear boots? Lace up or pull on?
TRoglodyte wrote: GPS , do you wear boots? Lace up or pull on?
I see where you are going with this but I was wearing shorts.
1967 Indy 500. Turbine car. On lap 197, after leading 171 laps, a six dollar ball bearing in the gearbox failed. Race lost.
Sharts are messy , no matter the attire.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Maroon92 wrote: For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
GRMers would have ridden the horse anyway.
In reply to DrBoost:
Lack of airport security missed some box cutters.
We've been at war for 10 years and trillions of dollars as a result.
In reply to JoeyM:
To err is human. But to really berkeley up, you need a computer.
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