Oh sure, lots of people will say that electricity is the flow of a current through a conductive medium, but it’s all just a hoax. Ask someone who really knows what’s going on and they’ll tell you about the magic smoke.
Magic smoke is kind of dangerous. It tends to be rather hot, and needs to have some pressure behind it in order to do any good. What people call “electrical” wiring is really just a form of plumbing which contains the smoke and pipes it to where it is needed. If a pipe breaks or starts leaking, the magic smoke will come out and the device will stop working.
Hackers and technicians have known about magic smoke for years. Just take a look at the entry for it in the Jargon file. It doesn’t just apply to integrated chip technology either. Even fairly hearty household appliances will stop working once the smoke starts leaking out.
Which reminds me: I need to get a new blender.