Re:Why they tell you to turn off your phone... (Score 2, Interesting)

This was indeed a real problem in the late 70's, particularly for DRAM chips and only ceased to be a problem when manufacturers tightened up on the allowable level of impurities in materials near the memory chips, such as the encapsulating plastics and the chip coatings used within ceramic ICs. Many elements have naturally occurring isotopes that are radioactive and DRAM errors are dependent on the concentration of these within materials surrounding the memory chip and the radioactive decay method. Back then of course we had atmospheric atomic testing and straw packing material was a good way to capture atmospheric fallout (and a good way to get fogged photographic film too). When you consider the effect of Moore's Law on the size of the capacitor used within the DRAM over the last 30 years (the bit flip is caused by the radioactive decay particle discharging this capacitor) and the fact we can't make perfectly pure materials at an economic cost, it is surprising that this problem is not more obvious now. I suspect software bugs are more likely to be the cause however.