In this age of technology where we get to learn so much everyday day & have been moving forward at a rate that was once unimaginable, there are a lot of myths that we believe in & follow every day. You might be scared of some of these or feel threatened by them. So keep on reading as today I’ll bust 10 tech myths that you can just ignore.
Myth #1). That Google & Facebook are Free
The first one is related to services that are available online & labeled “Absolutely free to use” like Gmail, Google Search, Google Drive, or social media like Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. Today, I would like to clear this out for you that it is not true at all.
When you use such services or you browse through such websites, they place cookies are downloaded to your browser which then monitors your online behavior. It keeps track of what websites do you visit, what terms you search for, and gather every bit of information about you it can & sends it back to the source server.
Then different algorithms use this information about you to predict what products and services you might be interested in & relevant ads are displayed to you. Once you click on one of such ads, the advertiser is charged some fixed amount/click, and revenue is generated for such “free to use” service providers.
Myth #2) Better Cards For Better Performance:
Our next tech myth is pretty ridiculous. Let’s say you recently purchased a new digital camera and the next thing now you want is the world’s best & fastest SD card/memory card to ensure the best performance from your camera. Readers this is also a widely believed myth.
Although, you do need a good and fast memory card if you want to utilize the full potential of your camera and if you want to record & store high definition or 4K videos & stills but it does not mean that if you have the world’s fastest SD card, you would be able to overcome certain limitations of your camera, for example, the maximum number of frame per second (FPS) it can shoot videos at or the maximum resolution of photos that your camera can take.
Myth #3) That Typing URL = No Phishing
Another popular myth is that you can never fall prey to phishing attacks if you always visit web pages, you want to by directly typing its URL directly into the address bar of the browser
This Is also not true. To understand how, first we need to understand how the DNS system actually works, for that you can check out What Is DNS.
Now assuming that you understand how DNS works and how domain names are translated into corresponding IP addresses. An attacker can mess with DNS configuration so that even if you type the correct URL, you’ll be redirected to a fake page/site where the attacker wants you to land.
Myth #4) That Bigger File size guarantees Better Quality
Similar to the notion that “if something is expensive it ought to be good” is our next tech myth. When you download a movie or a song, often you’ll find that there are multiple versions of it available that you can choose from based on your desired quality and storage availability.
I agree that usually, a file having a smaller size is also the one having lower audio / video quality & a file with a greater size is the one which has better quality but from this, we cannot deduce that for a great video quality we always have to go with the larger file as the size of a video file depends on two factors that are
1) The way it is Encoded 2) Quality
And Quality of a video depends on the source of its origin. Also, there are several different compression techniques, one of them is Lossless compression which allows us to compress larger files into smaller ones without compromising on the quality of media so that we enjoy decent quality media even with smaller file sizes.
Myth #5) That Third-Party Ink = Void Printer Warranty
Our next tech myth is exclusively for those who have recently purchased a new printer. It is believed that if you ever use any third-party Ink or Toner with your printer it can void your printer’s warranty.
Well, Good News, it is not true and you can use any Third Party Ink of your choice for your printing requirements. It is going to have no effect on your printer’s warranty.
Though it is possible that you may not get the best possible printing quality. It is going to have absolutely no effect on the printer’s warranty.
Myth #6) That Creating Disk Partition is Necessary :
You just bought a new laptop that has a hard drive of 1 TB,2 TB, 3 TB, or maybe 4 TB, and now you want to create different partitions of your drive in OS because if you don’t then you are not going to get the best performance out of your system.
This is also a myth and has got nothing to do with reality. You can use your system and utilize its full potential without having to create a different partition of the hard disk drive.
However, it can be beneficial to have partitions as it allows you to store data & organize it in a more efficient manner. For example, If you have created two disk partitions then you can use First One to run your OS and you can create backup files and save them in the second partition.
Myth #7) That Rechargeable Batteries Saves You Money
The next entry in Tech Myth(s) List concerns people who require/use AA, AAA batteries at home for various appliances.
It is believed that using rechargeable batteries instead of normal ones can help you save money in the long run as you don’t have to run to the market to buy new ones every time the cell runs out of charge.
This is not always true as it actually depends on the appliance you need batteries for – it’s the rate of power consumption. For example.
If what you require batteries for is one of your kid’s toys with which he plays around almost day & night, you can without a doubt go for rechargeable batteries but if you need batteries for something like a clock or remote controller of your T.V that can easily function for over 6 months on a single charge, I would suggest you to stick with traditional, one time use and throw batteries because a rechargeable battery costs 2-3 times extra than normal ones plus you may also need to buy a charger for batteries if you don’t have one already.
Myth #8) That X-Rays can damage your Electronics
The next tech myth is for those people who are not frequent fliers. Whenever you travel through an airplane, during security check your entire luggage passes through an x-ray scanner to see if there is not an objectionable article that you are carrying on board.
Now there are few people who as soon as hear the word X-Ray start to worry about electronics they may be carrying like hard-disk, laptop, camera, or tablet fearing that the X-Ray from scanner might damage or destroy them.
There is absolutely no truth in this as x-rays do not have any negative impact on your electronics
Myth #9) Bitcoin is illegal
The next tech myth that comes to my mind is also very common. Especially nowadays where a lot of people believe that trading in Bitcoin is illegal. Bitcoin is definitely illegal but only in few specific countries and not all around the world.
If you are in India you can easily trade-in bitcoin without having to face any issues related to its legality. You are absolutely free to sell or purchase bitcoins & openly use them as bitcoin is not illegal in India. It is illegal only in an of handful countries.
Myth #10) Online Hotel Search
‘Kya Apne Kabhi Online Hotel Search Kiya Hai?’ (Have you searched for a hotel online??) – Trivago whenever you search for a flight or a hotel online and visit numerous websites comparing prices and looking out for discounts then get ready to eventually pay more than usual as the websites you visit to track your behavior with the help of cookies and monitor what hotels and flights you search for online, how frequently you search for them etc & soon those websites start to show you increased prices for flights & hotels that suits you.
So I would suggest you to always search/book flights & hotel in incognito mode & in most of the cases if you book it directly from the official website chances are high that you’ll get the best deal.
