"It is well known that the reliability of electronic components decreases significantly if they are subjected to high temperature extremes or to large temperature swings, especially if these swings or cycles are frequent. These temperature cycles can be due for example to electronic loading (e.g. peak telephone traffic times) or seasonal day-night temperature differences."
source: http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6104611-description.html
"Ventilation of all electronics a serious issue. Buy A/V furniture with CAUTION, so as not to shorten the life-span of your costly components."
source: http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7596_102-0.html?forumID=60&threadID=256055&messageID=2538803
"Excessive heat can shorten the lifespan of a drive, reduce the performance of the system, and ultimately damage its electronic components."
source: http://www.adrc.com.my/tips.html
"And yes, all electronics are affected by heat. Maybe they wont show right away but I very well may shorten the components lifespan significantly compared to a system in a cooler enviroment."
source: http://www.animenation.net/forums/showthread.php?t=196007
Just googled this right now.
It doesn't burn your chip right away, but it increases the chances of a problem happening. So the lifespan of your system decreases. I configured mine to not leave the wiiconnect24 when it is turned off.
