I was telling somebody about this interesting high-intensity LED that I had received. With his typical curiosity, he said, “Can I see it?” I replied, “No, I’d rather not. It’s a static-sensitive device; that’s why it’s enclosed in an anti-static bag. I’d rather wait until I have it under controlled conditions before opening it up.”
He shot back, “That’s stupid! People handle electronics all the time, and they’re not going to get fried from a little static electricity. Not unless you have nanometer-sized transistors in their.”
“It’s not that simple,” I replied. “It’s not just a matter of device size. You also have to consider the type of device and the materials used. For example, CMOS devices are notoriously static-sensitive, whereas TTL devices are not.”
“But people handle LEDs all the time with any of this anti-static nonsense.”
“Your run-off-the-mill LEDs, perhaps. Not all LEDs are alike. Some of the more modern types are much more vulnerable to static discharge.”
He said, “You know what? I know people who handle blood samples with a lot of ceremony and ritual, whereas others don’t. We just don’t need to be that complicated.”
“And how is that relevant?” I asked. “Blood and circuitry are two different things. Let’s say that those people are indeed overly cautious. How does this prove that static electricity is not a problem when handling electronic devices?”
“Look, our company has built hundreds of computers. We’ve never, ever had a problem with static electricity.”
“So what?” I said. “That’s like saying that you’ve driven thousands of miles without a seatbelt, and so seatbelts are unnecessary. You might feel safe, but when an accident does happen, you’re going to feel differently. Every competent technician knows that certain electronic devices are very much static-sensitive.”
He laughs. “Look, if it breaks, I’ll buy you a replacement.”
“And will you also pay for the hours of lost work, along with the damage done to my project’s timeline?”
He shakes his head. “You and I are both wearing cotton clothing. We’re not going to generate static electricity – not unless we were wearing synthetics.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “Sure, synthetics might increase the amount of static generated – but that doesn’t mean that we won’t build up any static charge right now.”
“You’re just being fearful,” he said. “You need to develop some courage.”
“You’re being needlessly reckless,” I said. What I really wanted to say, however, was “You’re an idiot. A total, blithering idiot.”
Cotton, can get staticy, can’t it? I’ve seen flannel (made of cotton) all static charged from being in the dryer, at least…