Obviously, somebody decided -- incorrectly, in my opinion -- that flight attendants don't have either the time or the smarts to distinguish "good" electronic devices from "bad" ones, so they made life simple by demanding that everything with a switch be turned off. Even that rule is stupid in a way: My watch is electronic, but it has no switch, so it becomes OK to leave on. Pacemakers are electronic, but I guess the airlines (or maybe it's the government to blame) don't want to kill all the passengers with pacemakers, so they are OK, too!

Bruce