Two people reported that their new PowerBook G4 encased in titanium is more susceptible to static electricity discharges than the previous plastic encased PowerBooks. They wrote that after walking across a room and reaching out to their new PowerBook that an arc of static electricity from their finger zapped the PowerBook and caused it to freeze. A reboot restored it to full functionality and there appeared to be no discenable damage but this can't be good for the new PowerBook. I have experienced external static electricity discharges on most of our computers and keyboards at one time or another but they never had any perceptible effect on the computer, much less causing it to freeze. Let's hope these reports are rare events and that the new PowerBook's metal case is well grounded if titanium is a good conductor of electricity.
[Update] Dan Knight, webmaster of Low End Mac, wrote:
"Misc. comments on static and the PB G4:
- my office has a floating wood floor (wooden boards on a thin layer of
insulating foam), not carpeting
- the problem seems to occur only when I'm wearing shoes; barefoot or
socks so far means no static problem
- if I touch the light gray (almost white) side of the computer, it
doesn't suspend operations; if I touch the metal near the keyboard --
good night
- my TiBook is connected to a power brick and to an ethernet network -- I
wonder if there's some sort of differential between them?
- I've had my desktop set up in the same place for over a year and have
never had any static problems at all with it"