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Right now it's looking like the submersible did indeed shatter. The more I read on their website, the crazier the whole thing seems: their previous version only went down to 500m, this one they were trying for 4000m.
It's hard to speak ill of the dead, given the CEO went down on this trip, but the entire philosophy seems like "try moonshots and don't be held back by the regulators" which is great if you're mucking around on land but not so great when an "oopsie!" means you're crushed to death by the water pressure of deep ocean.
'I don't want to hire the old guys like the other companies do, I want young and exciting original thinkers' is a bad decision because the old guys are the ones who've seen how things fail and when, and if they were saying "uh yeah I don't think so" then firing them to be replaced by 20+ year old who goes "totally let's use a game controller" is not the best idea, yes?
I really like how several people have already explained to you that the game controller is one of the sanest parts of the debacle, but you continue to treat it as a slam dunk.
Well, given their other design decisions, is the Logitech looking like such a good choice now?
Yes, it has been explained that game controllers are used elsewhere. I am not aware that other submersibles use them, please inform me if that is so. And while it may not have been the worst part of the whole package, I think that when you are doing something that could go very badly wrong very fast involving human life, being cautious and making sure you have robust systems in place is better than "Well the Navy use it for surface level machinery!"
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The controller is the only sane-ish part. The xbox controller is ergonomic, sturdy, reliable and indestructible. My x360 one that I bought in 2006 is still going strong. PS4 is comparable although slightly more clumsier.
It is also great in the water. As long as you don't put humans inside. Conduct couple of hundreds of tests - your consumables are literally bags of sand and pipes.
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