So, I'm probably totally on the wrong path, but a lot of this seemed to ring a ball, and a Wikipedia search joggled my memory (link in spoiler, along with key points). Currently just ramblings while I try to find some smoking gun that says I'm on the right path. Feel free to comment or tell me i'm wrong :)

>! The Traitorous Eight is a term given to the eight employees who left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, to create Fairchild Semiconductor. Shockley considered this a 'betrayal'. (so Fairchild Semiconductor was "born as the result of eight betrayals") Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_eight  "Playing in the sand" could refer to the fact that silicon is used to make semiconductors. Silicon is a primary ingredient in common sand.<p>The Traitorous eight worked in a garage at first, "practicing", or rather perfecting, their methods of creating a special type of transistor known as a Moore transistor. They eventually would beat all competition for this product (Became a key player in big business)<p>The third paragraph of the riddle has several statements that could infer various types of semiconductor products. Amplifiers, Logic Gates, 'guide' might refer to rectifiers, 'noise' is a common problem in circuits...