Ah, the world of tech myths! Despite countless efforts to kill them, a host of myths continue to persist. Some of them are result of plain ignorance while a few had genuine lineage but as the technology moves forward, do not hold true anymore.
We take a look at 10 of these fallacies and squash them.
More mega pixels mean better picturesWe wish it could be true. Because then we all would have been pro photographers. More mega pixels were a big deal when digital cameras were new. But once the threshold of five mega pixels was reached, the number stopped being the most important factor in a camera.
In any modern camera, image quality primarily depends on sensor size and quality of lens. This is the reason why you are likely to get better images from say a Nikon D40, a 6 mega pixel camera, than a new point-and-shoot slick camera that can capture photos in 14 mega pixels.
Higher dynamic contrast ratio is betterMonitor and TV makers love to bandy about dynamic contrast ration. For example, Acer says its S231HL monitor has a dynamic contrast ratio of 12,000,000:1. In reality, this number doesn’t mean anything.
This contrast ratio can be achieved only when the monitor is displaying a completely black image. During normal use, the ratio is likely to be lot less than the static contrast ratio, which is 1000:1. Dynamic contrast ratio is a just a marketing scam so steer clear of that.
More RAM in a graphics card is betterThis is another marketing scam. And many gamers fall prey to it. In a graphics card, everything depends on the kind of processing chip that is used and not on amount of RAM. While buying a graphics card users need to pay close attention to the name. For example, AMD Radeon HD 6850 with just 1GB RAM will be more than four to five times faster than AMD Radeon 6450 with 2GB RAM.
Macs don't have virusesIt’s not really a myth. There is some truth to it. People using Apple’s MacBook, iMac or Mac Pro are less likely to face computer viruses. But this is not because Apple’s computers or operating software are virus-proof. The fact is that cyber criminals largely focus on Windows because that is used by majority of people. But as popularity of Apple’s computers increases, cyber criminals are taking note and new viruses and trojans on Mac have started appearing.
Right click+refresh makes PC fasterAround 15 years ago, computers were always running out of memory. RAM was very expensive and most computers had just 4MB to 8MB RAM. Then, there were poorly-coded applications that caused memory leaks. This led to the practice of right click+refresh on the desktop as by refreshing the display or in other words Explorer, in some cases users quickly reclaimed free RAM after closing a process.
On modern computers, which have ample RAM, doing a right click+refresh is nothing more than a foolish habit.
For graphics work, a Mac is bestThis one too was true sometime back. But now it’s more of a myth than a fact. Before 2006, Apple was using processors based on PowerPC architecture by IBM. Compared to Intel or AMD processors, PowerPC chips had an advantage in graphics-heavy work. But after 2006, Apple shifted to Intel processors. A Mac still has some advantage in font management as well as quality of bundled monitor. But if you are a graphic designer who knows your trade well and who takes care while choosing his gear, you don’t need to pay premium and buy a Mac just because someone told you that it is better for graphics work.
To delete a file permanently, delete it from Recycle BinAfter deleting a sensitive file from recycle bin, never think that you have obliterated it. Using recovery programmes, even a kid can retrieve the file back. When you delete a file from recycle bin, Windows just changes its file name and makes it invisible to user. The file does not get deleted unless it is overwritten, which happens over a period of time when you create new files.
CPUs with more cores/Ghz are betterAnother marketing lie. In any processor or computing chip, the underlying architecture is what matters. This is the reason why even slower AMD Athlon processors were considerably faster than Pentium 4. And the architecture is reason why nowadays a four-core Sandy Bridge processor from Intel is faster than six-core processors that AMD sells.
You need to buy expensive security softwareThis was true when no good security software were available for free. But situation has changed a lot in the last few years. Nowadays, if you want some cyber security on a home computer you don’t really need to spend any money.
Microsoft Security Essentials, which is a free dowanload, will do the job. And so will free anti-virus programs from AVG, Avast or Avira.
You need to stop a USB drive before taking it outThis is true but partially. If there is a file transfer going on, which means if you are moving files between pen drive and computer, you may need to stop USB drive before unplugging the pen drive.
But if there is no file transfer happening, you can pluck out the pen drive right away. We assure you that it won’t go up in flames.