Mark,
You're absolutely right. I am fully confident in the woodworking training I've received and in my usual "standard" of working within my capabilities, but I also know a lot of other highly skilled people missing body parts due to woodworking mistakes. Complacency kills in my line of work and I try to carry that into everything I do, just to keep in practice
I know the "right" way to use these tools, and I won't change what I do because of a safety feature.
It's like deliberately over-stressing an aircraft just because I wear a parachute... Not gonna happen, but I'll still wear the 'chute just in case.
I am also very concerned about my wife using woodworking tools. She is very interested in building furniture and I know for a fact that sooner or later one of us is going to make a mistake in the shop, and only proper preparation (buying into safety features) or blind luck will save us.
I've already had my blind luck incident when my hand was pulled into a drill press in high school metal shop, and I only lost a little skin instead of wrapping my hand and wrist around the chuck like the guy in the safety video I'd seen just the week prior. Crap happens and if there is a technology solution that addresses one of the most common and most serious workshop injury potentials, then it's probably irresponsible to pass it up.
I can afford a $3,000 table saw a lot more than I can afford a career-ending injury or the hospital bill that would come after sawing off a few fingers.
