this is the source of the article: http://www.mydroidworld.com/forums/droid-x-discussion/3330-h...

from the source, the things checked before blowing the fuse are: "the firmware information (what we call ROMS), the kernel information, and the bootloader version"

it seems like if you get any kind of corruption, in any part of the above components, for any amount of time, your phone becomes a brick.

corruption happens: my previous phone was a motorola. i stopped using it because it would randomly redirect phone calls to other numbers in the phone book (but it was usable for a long period despite this).

motorola phones' get corruption (which keep essential functions working), but now any temporary, minor problem results in permanent, intentional bricking.