> Every field engineer is trained on the proper use of a static mat and wrist strap.
Right, and they still don't use it and mock it as they are being trained.
> It takes only 30 seconds to put one on.
To dig out the mat and wrist strap, fold it out, put the machine on the thing and clip it properly takes longer than 30 seconds, even if you have it around already. On top of that, you have to do it every time you want in and out of the case, on every call or event, every time. That adds up quickly.
> Just because the field engineers are lazy and are ignoring their training doesn't make the risk of ESD any lower than it is.
If ALL field techs without exception don't use it and mock it because in practice the risk is so ridiculously remote that it's not worth dealing with, then yes, it does make it lower than people like you make it out to be. I'm actually going to trust the guy who does it multiple times a day every day for years and years over the guy who insists the risk is greater than has ever been proven.
Either way, why should you care? I'm the one who will supposedly be paying for all these random dead components. I mean it hasn't happened once in years of being a field tech and never once using a strap and neither has it happened to anyone I know and the people I know are mostly techs and never use straps, but who knows what the future will bring?
> Inexplicable component failures; random errors weeks or even months down the road. These are all caused by ESD.
How convenient. We get to blame all potential future failures on ESD too. Nothing is a bad part or wear over time. It was all caused by you touching it without wearing the magic strap.
> Just because you want to ignore the laws of physics doesn't mean they don't apply to you.
Or Apple, Dell or UofT either. I'm just going to have to assume there is a magical anti-static field over Canada then.
I used to be a Sun field engineer. I had a foldable static mat with wrist straps in the pockets. It literally took me less than 30 seconds to unfold the mat, slide on the strap, and throw whatever system board I was repairing on the mat. The mat was padded as well, so I didn't have to worry about finding a safe surface to drop a 10 pound system board on.
The reason why the Dell techs are not using wrist straps is because they are lazy, and they know that even if ESD causes a component failure, some other poor tech will get the follow up service call and just come replace another part, or replace the same part again.
Have you ever wondered why a lot of replacement parts, after being installed without ESD protection, somehow are DOA (dead on arrival)? The factory that manufactures them surely tests them before shipping.
Are you seriously arguing that static charges of several thousand volts can't damage integrated circuits?
Right, and they still don't use it and mock it as they are being trained.
> It takes only 30 seconds to put one on.
To dig out the mat and wrist strap, fold it out, put the machine on the thing and clip it properly takes longer than 30 seconds, even if you have it around already. On top of that, you have to do it every time you want in and out of the case, on every call or event, every time. That adds up quickly.
> Just because the field engineers are lazy and are ignoring their training doesn't make the risk of ESD any lower than it is.
If ALL field techs without exception don't use it and mock it because in practice the risk is so ridiculously remote that it's not worth dealing with, then yes, it does make it lower than people like you make it out to be. I'm actually going to trust the guy who does it multiple times a day every day for years and years over the guy who insists the risk is greater than has ever been proven.
Either way, why should you care? I'm the one who will supposedly be paying for all these random dead components. I mean it hasn't happened once in years of being a field tech and never once using a strap and neither has it happened to anyone I know and the people I know are mostly techs and never use straps, but who knows what the future will bring?
> Inexplicable component failures; random errors weeks or even months down the road. These are all caused by ESD.
How convenient. We get to blame all potential future failures on ESD too. Nothing is a bad part or wear over time. It was all caused by you touching it without wearing the magic strap.
> Just because you want to ignore the laws of physics doesn't mean they don't apply to you.
Or Apple, Dell or UofT either. I'm just going to have to assume there is a magical anti-static field over Canada then.