7 COMMON MYTHS ABOUT YOUR EVERYDAY TECHNOLOGY

As technology evolves, and the human mind is faced with new things, and even newer expectations, skeptics are bound to warn about the dangers of these new innovations. However, most of these beliefs are usually misguided or just totally wrong.

This post seeks to break down and erase the fear of “the tech”, and does not in any way seek to put down any company, brand or product. The following are examples of the widespread myths about technology and the common devices that have been around for quite some time.

This is probably why cell-phone companies like Infinix, Tecno, Gionee, etc have leveraged on this myth, each one trying to increase and market the megapixels of their products year by year. Of course, we see the results of this so called increased megapixels as some phones with 10MP take better and brighter pictures than those with 17MP.

TRUTH:

Despite being one of the most commonly held beliefs about digital photography, a photo’s quality is determined by many more factors than the megapixels. Research explains that a camera’s lens, circuitry and sensor – not to mention your mastery of lighting, composition and the camera’s controls – are far more important factors.

Uh oh. Can’t count the number of times I’ve heard Nigerians say “call me later, I’m at the filling station”. I can’t exactly say if they believe this myth or they’re just prepping to face the usual struggle on the petrol queue.

TRUTH:

Several studies have debunked the long time myth that cell-phones might actually generate an electric spark that could ignite petrol/gasoline fumes. Though, it’s theoretically possible, it is highly improbably under normal circumstances. Still, just to play it safe, you might want to read and follow your cell-phone manufacturer’s instructions.

TRUTH:

They aren’t the same thing people. The internet is simply an infrastructure that allows information to be shared between networks across the world. The web is just another one of those networks, namely the one with sites and pages that start with WWW.

Basically, the web needs the internet to exist, but the internet has plenty of other things going on apart from the web.

TRUTH:

You’d really need a really big magnet, and even then, it would only affect certain types of data storage. Solid State Drives (SSD) like your USB flash drives are safe. Hard drives, like those on your computer are at risk, but only from really powerful magnets, like those used in MRI machines or other specialized equipment.

Basically, the web needs the internet to exist, but the internet has plenty of other things going on apart from the web.

TRUTH:

Enabling private, or incognito mode may hide the sites you visit from your web history, but it doesn’t hide you from the web entirely. It simply means that the sites you visit won’t go into your web history or automatically log you into your accounts. It doesn’t mean you’re invisible to the sites you visit.

More than half of Nigerian mothers on Whatsapp have sent their children the popular and infamous “Your phone radiation will give you cancer” broadcast message.

TRUTH:

Despite being one of the most talked about health scares in the 1990s and early 2000s, no research to date has found a causal link between using your cell phone and getting cancer.

TRUTH:

While video games have at times been blamed for kids’ bad behavior, science isn’t convinced. In fact, research carried out to this effect has shown that kids who played games for less than an hour a day were a bit happier and well-adjusted than kids who didn’t play at all.

However, other studies have found that playing video games excessively can have negative results, particularly when a game is especially tough and distracting.