The key word here is electronics. They have only recently become widespread and are VERY delicate. Of course an EMP won't damge heavy wiring,transmission towers and power sources.
However, it will damage the electronics that control and operate most of our devices. It is relatively simple and cheap to protect one's devices at home,so why not do so?
Being an electrician I could tell you right off the bat you're incorrect about that idea. Electronics of the early 80's were very delicate. These days just about everything you use is heavy duty by yesteryear's standards. I spilled a zima in my old server and it didn't even shut off. Control panels, IC controllers, relays...these things are built to withstand some serious voltages, I am completely certain no solar storm is going to collapse the globe's infrastructure. If that storm that powerful DOES come along, kiss your butt goodbye because not only would it blow away the atmosphere it would likely melt the surface of the earth as well.
I see below Lucky Jim's pointing to the 'examples' we have seen in the past. If you knew how many times someone has cited those to me- I can recall most of them from memory seeing them raised so many times.
It still has no valid argument and holds no water. The power systems of the 1800's were held together with bailing wire and nails. It's a wonder they didn't catch fire just sitting there unmolested. Power systems in the 80's were getting there, still not too sturdy but they did what they were made to do and still held up pretty well. Aside from isolated incidents the world never even noticed. These days the grid is tied to all manner of huge power sources and
oceans of load, probably more than an emp event is able to generate. EMP isn't some magical concept that defies physics. EMP's do NOT just 'stop' electricity from flowing. They overload things too weak to handle the load inducted into the system's components, namely electrical connections and switches.
Guys, I have seen
phones today that operate on enough current to kill a man. I have seen kids toys that can kill you if you stick a finger in the wrong spot. Last I checked most devices aren't sitting on a table already pushing electrical loads that are just beneath their capability to. Old televisions from the 80's? SURE, they were also known to electrocute electricians trying to fix them. You won't see a TV today that can do that. Most things we use and build today are already well capable of surviving this phantom 'EMP' or CME that will never and has never come to pass. Carrington was fine after a few weeks, so were all the others. This is not primetime TV here, there are conventions such as magnetic dynamics and physics at play here that are not being considered.
And to answer your quoted question: It is relatively simple and cheap to protect one's devices at home,so why not do so?
answer: It is also easy and cheap to keep vampires away from my preps by hanging wreaths of garlic on the shelves. I'm not going to waste my time on it because vampires aren't real. According to my present knowledge, neither are killer EMP's and coronal events. If they were we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Guys, whatever floats your boat. If it makes you feel better, wrap your iphones in tin foil and go ahead do the cars too. I personally have no fear of ghosts so I'm not going to spend my time chasing them. I chalk up this CME / EMP stuff to the same nonsense that created the nibiru / planet x / reptilians conspiracies. If I had ever seen one shred of verifiable evidence that anything said about EMP's was real, I'd be all over that. And I would still be all over that, I invite that conversation. I would believe in it if someone could point out even part of it that is real and verifiable.