Southwest Triumphs, Knight Doesn't, as Computers Go Wild

But over the weekend Southwest moved to respond so that by Sunday it had issued refunds to all of the customers involved. "The big currency for us is the trust of our customers," Hawkins said. "We worked hard to let them know we were fixing the problem. We took care of all erroneous charges and fees, and also sent an apology email with news of a $150 voucher to follow."

As a result of the response, most -- but not all -- Facebook posts about the carrier were positive.

In Knight Capital's case, a test program used with the software was included with the software. "The test program's job was to simulate buying and selling," said Hunsader. "It did its job too well."

The beneficiaries, he said, were "traders who sensed somebody stupid out there. They took advantage of it. But retail investors couldn't sense this. They sold and got a lower price than they should have."

The computers did not suffer one bit.

-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.

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