Originally Posted by
buffo
According to their website, they are spending a bunch of money on advertising by giving away high-powered pointers to a large number of people so they will write reviews about Wicked Lasers' new product line. Steve has contacted many people here on PL, including me, with this offer.
I was initially opposed to the idea on the grounds that high-powered laser pointers are illegal in this country, so I didn't want to be seen as promoting such illegal activity. More to the point, I felt that these lasers were being recklessly marketed to people who did not have the knowledge to operate them safely. (You know the type of person I'm talking about... "What stuff can I burn with this laser?" Or my personal favorite: "How far will the beam travel?") And I really didn't want to encourage that.
I feel that the widespread misuse of high-powered laser pointers will inevitably lead to more legal restrictions, if not an outright ban, on the ownership and use of lasers for display purposes in this country. As such, I felt it was my obligation to discourage the sale of such pointers, particularly when they are blatantly marketed to the uneducated.
However, in an effort to be fair, I did tell Steve that I would consider his offer if his products were brought into compliance with US regulations. That means a keyswitch, an emission indicator, proper labeling, etc... (All the things that make a lab laser different from a pointer.) And it does appear that they have filed a laser product report for some of their new lasers. Though without a copy of the actual report, it is impossible to tell what has been added or changed to the design, or if they are indeed in compliance or not.
If they have, in fact, upgraded the product to bring it into compliance, then that is a welcomed first step. If they go the extra mile by warning people (both on their website and in the product packaging) of the dangers of these lasers, especially when it comes to aircraft, then I might actually consent to a review. After all, I think we can all agree that hand-held lasers can be cool and interesting, if handled appropriately. Also, I've seen several "hot" laser pointers in the hands of both commercial laserists and senior ILDA members alike, so it's not as if they can't be owned and used safely.
But this is a very touchy subject for me. There is a big difference between the homebrew laser enthusiast who assembles his own red laser for use in a projector and some "pointer jockey" who just wants to know how fast he can burn through black electrical tape. I don't worry about the laser enthusiast ever pointing his home-built red laser at a police helicopter, for example.
Adam