The era of software quality, or the secret ballot

One of the things I never see in reports like this is the same mode of failure, which is strange considering diebold made the brazilian machines back then and should have fixed that. What is the "era of ostriches"? Is that a good idea? You cannot easily replace them, and what if something happens to the battery? As I understand, the novelty is that they put external components, including a lithium battery, under the skin. Is that a reference to some meme? Would someone explain the meaning?