Originally posted by: bendixG15
Those little metal thingies are grounding thingies.
Obviousky not need because lotsa computers are run without the back plate not installed and no problems have been reported. Another good idea that went south.
(Now 15 guys are going to post their problems to prove me wrong
)
Come to think of it, they probably are a good idea. Back in 1998 or so, the fun thing to do at school was to shuffle your feet (with no shoes) on the carpet in the computer lab then put your finger in the modem. It would spark and the computer would crash. Hours of fun and games on a PowerPC
. The lesson is that static from somewhere, in a high enough amount, can crash the computer.
Not sure a metal plate would stop abuse, but the general idea is the same. With that plate, there is a direct connection from the ports to the metal case, which is probably grounded (the cord for the computer power has 3 prongs, so something is clearly grounded somewhere).
The 32x addon for the Sega Genesis also came with metal shields, and the explanation was something retarded about static. It didn't make any sense, though, since it wasn't really shielding against anything. The Genesis and 32x are already in direct metal contact with each other, so where is this static buildup supposed to happen?. That, and the shields were not not grounded, which eliminates the whole point of having shields (non-grounded metal can be charged by induction).
Facebook
Twitter