You know with a few simple precautions static is not a big problem. I have to say in my 30+ years of working with and repairing electronics and computer equipment I have never had a failure due to static discharge. I have had a few customers that would come to me and say for example "I was using the bally astrocade --on the carpet in front of TV-- and plugged the joystick in and I heard a pop, and now it don't work". Ev en the old manuals tell you not to use on carpet flooring for heat and static reasons. Just a little common sense goes a long way. Back to the point, Static is not that much of a problem if you use basic precautions. I would say more people destroy stuff poking around were they probably shouldn't be poking than with static. Of course, The old batteries were probably a major reason for failure even if they are removed, since most people do not clean the existing residue off the board properly and it slowly eats the board.
