Disengage phantom before unplugging - a myth?

[dogcow]

I remember emailing Geoff Daking a while back because i was going to try out some pres at a studio I was working at. I looked up the specs of the pre and couldn't find a phantom on/off switch. He mailed back and said essentially that it was always on, and that he had many reasons for it, but he didn't want to get into them. Not that I'm doubting his electronics wizardry one iota, but I'm curious what the rationale is. I know in my experience (which doesn't include a huge amount of old, fragile, expensive ribbon mics) the worst thing I've experienced is a really lound pop in the monitors.

[Professor]

Obviously I've heard the pop too. I can't say I've ever burnt up a ribbon. But I have seen smoke come out of the DI output from a guy's Roland keyboard amp. I unplugged quick and worked out a different way to track that instrument, and luckily I didn't kill his DI.

-Jeremy