When Your Life Depends on a $30 Gamepad: The Titan Submarine and the F710
Introduction: The Depths of Engineering Hubris On June 18, 2023, five people descended into the North Atlantic aboard the Titan submersible, each having paid $250,000 for the privilege of visiting the Titanic wreck. They never returned. The implosion of OceanGate’s experimental deep-sea vessel didn’t just claim five lives—it shattered the mythology of “disrupting” industries where physics doesn’t care about your pitch deck. Netflix’s recent documentary “The Deepest Breath” brought renewed attention to this tragedy, highlighting a cascade of engineering decisions that prioritized innovation over safety. Among the many troubling details, one caught the attention of the hacker community: the entire submersible was controlled by a modified Logitech F710 wireless gamepad—the same controller gathering dust in countless closets, relegated there after rage-quitting Dark Souls. ...