The Armchair Economist

Back in college I read a book called The Armchair Economist. It raised some very interesting points. The most intriguing is the idea that airbags and seat belts actually cause more accidents.

People used to be scared to drive recklessly - In the event of an accident the driver would be thrown into a hard steering wheel or dashboard and through the windshield with little chance of survival. Today, drivers know that airbags and seat belts will greatly increase their chances of survival. The result is riskier driving habits with more accidents that are less fatal. So seatbelts and airbags actually cause there to be more of a bad thing (tho, slightly less harmful than before...).

Does this same phenomenon occur in other situations? Can rapid advancements in technology cause careless and hasty product development? I would venture to say that this might have been Microsoft's issue with the often criticized Vista..just some food for thought.