IBM server falls off a lorry

In IBM's case, $1.4m-worth of server really did fall off the back of a lorry. And it broke. Or at least it was damaged, damaged enough for the lawyers to be dragged in and the legal action to start. IBM says it is not to blame for the accident which led to the server slipping from a forklift (be honest, it can so easily happen, just not usually with $1.4m worth of server) but now the company that suffered the damaged server is suing. Virginia-based contractor TR Systems is the company suing. So, IBM has now filed its own action in return, claiming it is the company's own clumsiness that is to blame. According to Information Week, IBM reckons that TR Systems "was negligent in moving this server on its forklift over a concrete lip". Tsk! Shocking. The server was destined for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The government contractor responsible argues that the machine would have withstood the jolt were it not for shoddy packaging, apparently. IBM does not accept that. I am not sure I can either. IBM guilty of shoddy packaging? If they were, it must be a first. IBM usually covers its products with packaging. Layers of the stuff. Times must have changed. But perhaps it is the move to all things "green" and the need to cut down on waste could be the issue. Now there's an idea. "IBM blames green movement for shoddy packaging"? This could run and run.