On Tuesday 02 February 2016 23:31:37 Paul Tansom wrote: > All the Pi Zero images I've seen the Pi has been in a cardboard blister > pack, so would have some decent protection. The plastic sandwiched between > the card looked to hold its shape, so would offer some protection. Most > have also been in a clear bag with the magazine. If yours was just loose > something may have happened to it between being sent out and you getting > it. I would ask the foundation about it given that it seems from a later > post that the Pi is at fault.
I've been a subscriber of MagPi since they started producing the paper version around 3-4 months ago, so I received mine in the first batch. Obviously, it was inside the delivery envelope, but it wasn't loose, a big blob of glue had been smeared onto the track side of the PCB and then it had been stuck to the front of the magazine. The one I saw in Tesco's the same day had the Pi attached in the same way. So. Someone at the MagPi publishers, (who was probably sitting on a plastic chair on a nylon rich carpet, in an air-conditioned room (and therefore dry atmosphere)) had stuck his/her fingers all over it. They then stuck it into a plastic envelope that would generate static every time it was rubbed against it's neighbour in the pile or at the Sorting Office. The ones in the stores could well have also been touched by multiple shoppers who were also in an air-conditioned atmosphere. I would say that the odds were high that the Broadcom chip would be at least compromised by the time the recipient got it. Actually, ESD doesn't usually zap devices instantly (although touching them directly is a pretty good way to achieve that). Instead, the static on a persons body (or even in the static field that surrounds us all) breaks down internal junctions, which then subsequently fail at some time in the future. If anyone is interested, this presentation is quite informative: http://www.charleswater.co.uk/PPT/ ESDBasics.ppt. When I worked at Spherea Technology over at Ferndown *everyone* had to undergo ESD training whether they worked on the shop floor or not and no-one was allowed to enter the ESD protected area unless they were fully kitted out with ESD coat, wrist strap and heel conductors (as a minimum). The wrist strap and each individual's conductivity to earth had to be tested daily. This is serious stuff; if a product's reliability is compromised then the company's customers will hemorrhage until the company either mends it's ways or goes bust. Either that or the company spends additional time and resources fixing customer returns and compensating for the inconvenience. This is why I was a bit shocked (excuse the pun) when I saw my very own Pi Zero stuck on the front of the MagPi magazine. -- Terry Coles -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2016-02-02 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR
