Deadly "Star Wars Lightsabre Sells on Web

What's your guys' takes on this?

Mine is that I am suddenly very afraid that I might be attacked by one of these in the future

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100616/...n-45dbed5.html

part of me thinks it's pretty cool, the other part of me thinks that humanity is far too stupid to be allowed something that dangerous.

I agree completely.

That's pretty scary that a Class IV laser is being offered at such a low price. I've built a few Class IV lasers, but they were all kits, and just the diodes alone (not even a blue laser diode) normally cost upwards of $400...then there's the cost of the kit, so $200 for a full handheld blue 1w laser worries me, because you KNOW there's going to be the mountain of dumbasses who don't quite read the safety guidelines or dont take it seriously and will end up giving themselves or others cancer, blindness, or serious burns. Red lasers and some green lasers aren't really that dangerous...you can stare into a somewhat weak red laser for up to 30 seconds and probably not have any lasting side effects, but hell.. that's less than a milliwat power...this is one full watt.

craziness!! with freedom comes responsibility...we have feedom...the latter is questionable...

I feel like rationally ripping the article apart but its too much effort.
Suffice enough to say that this is the "cheapest" laser at this power, and is certainly not a "new" product, these types of lasers have been available publicly for a few years now, just not at this price point.

The portable lasers are made from blue laser diodes taken from home theater projectors:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/laser-te...ic_series.html
The "extremely dangerous" aspect of the laser comes from the use of the blue diode, see here:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/laser-te...ht_hazard.html

All I can say is that this is just another "tool" and as such only as dangerous as the person who uses it.

Hacking cd/dvd/blu-ray drives for diodes is much cheaper and a bit safer. -> http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/tu...mod-46886.html

yea I can imagine a couple of teenagers setting fire to something big.

Wow. Obviously very interesting which is bad. Far too dangerous and marketed in a toylike housing. What really bug me is thinking about the idiot out there who is going to injure an animal with this.

Love lightsabers on screen, but this is bad news. Imagine someone shining this at you or a family member and within 24 hours they are permanently blind.

I loved the KILL IT WITH FIRE quote in the article... Anon will be the death of us all: and then themselves

The thought of lightsabres in movies... very cool but the thought of them in reality is very scary. I don't think these should be made available ot the general public.

Sean