Speaking of shocks, if you work in electronics, you probably know what Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) is. I thought I understood it, but this highly entertaining presentation (recorded 20 years before I was born) made me realize that I didnt know ESD all that well.

ESD control came from the (almost literal) aftermath of an unfortunate explosion at Nasa, but as time progressed they realized that electronics also need static control. After looking at microscopic pictures of the silicon dies of failed chips, it was found out that ESD zaps a hole in the dielectric, vaporizes the contact, coats the hole that it just created shorting both contacts together, and killing the chip or part of.

But then you know it is dead, and where's the fun in that? In some cases, the ESD is just the right strength to not cause an immediate short circuit, but it gets very very close. The chip passes QC, is sent out, and dies promptly while in the middle of service. Mishandling of ESD sensitive devices might not even be apparent at first. Sometimes instead of the chip not working correctly, it would work in an unexpected way making troubleshooting harder.

So, why is old pink? because ultimately, pink polyethylene bags were invented by this person. It contains a surfactant which both holds just enough water to not allow the bag to create any static of its own, and self replenishes itself over time to stay effective. The bags were actually clear, but they wanted to dye them red to differentiate them, but instead, we got the pink bags that are commonly used today. However, while these bags dont create static, they cannot protect from external ESD. For that, the metallic bags are used.

These metallic bags can protect from external charges, but they also allow charge to build up when components rub the inside surface. Thus one of the best ways to really protect components is to place them in a pink poly bag while in an ESD safe environment, and then to place that bag inside of a metallic bag.

I suggest that you watch the lecture here, very unique presentation style: