The reason you see standby on electronics is not to keep internal components from failing, but so that a remote control can turn them on. Standby just means "I'm using enough power to keep this red LED on and so the infrared receiver stays on."
As for recommending never to use a power strip to cut power to equipment, that's really a personal choice. As long as you use the built-in power switch first, it absolutely will not harm your equipment to cut all power to it. You would be surprised how much power you can save in a year if you make it a habit to cut power to standby electronics.
That being said, I admit I leave my receiver and TV in standby unless I'm going away for a few or more days. Also, I shut down my computer at least a couple times a week instead of sleeping it.
