burn-in period

n. 1. A factory test designed to catch systems with marginal components
before they get out the door; the theory is that burn-in will protect
customers by outwaiting the steepest part of the bathtub curve (see infant
mortality ). 2. A period of indeterminate length in which a person using a
computer is so intensely involved in his project that he forgets basic needs
such as food, drink, sleep, etc. Warning: Excessive burn-in can lead to
burn-out. See hack mode , larval stage. Historical note: the origin of
burn-in (sense 1) is apparently the practice of setting a new-model
airplane's brakes on fire, then extinguishing the fire, in order to make
them hold better. This was done on the first version of the U.S. spy-plane,
the U-2.

