Tackling Five of Tech’s Biggest Myths

With the use of computers and mobile devices becoming persistent in the culture, there have been some myths conjured up by people that have become just as incessant. These lead to people getting the wrong idea about situations with their IT; and, ultimately believe things that are going wrong, when nothing can be further from the truth. Today, we’ve picked five such scenarios we feel need to be debunked.

Myth #1 - The more RAM you have the faster your PC will go.

RAM, or random-access memory, is thought to make any system run quicker. This isn’t the case. RAM is nothing more than a super-fast temporary storage space where your active programs are called from. By increasing your RAM, you will only help open more programs at the same time. That’s not to say that RAM isn’t important, as sometimes you need to run a lot of programs at once. When your system doesn’t run smoothly, and you add more RAM to it, it may begin to run better, but that is contingent on the commands you give the computer and the intensiveness of the software.

Myth #2 - You need to click on “Safely remove USB” button on your taskbar.

Our next myth is that if you don’t click on the “Safely remove USB” button that appears on your taskbar, and you remove a USB drive, you run the risk of corrupting the data and any changes written to the disk won’t be saved. The truth is that if you are not reading or writing data to the disk, there is no problem with simply pulling it out of the USB. The virtual button only ensures that the OS is not sending or receiving data to the drive, but most times you’ll know.

Myth #3 - Don’t use your smartphone while it is charging.

The next myth is one that we’ve heard time and again, especially after the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 snafu where devices were catching fire. All smartphones use lithium-ion batteries that have a very small chance to explode. Furthermore, the process of using the phone and charging the phone has not traditionally led to explosion. Skeptics cite that phones warm up more than usual when they are charging. If you are dealing with a phone that is hot to the touch (and isn’t running graphic-intensive applications) chances are you need to replace your charger or your phone, because its battery is shot.

Myth #4 - You should only use your phone manufacturer’s charger.

The lead in for this myth comes from the last one. If you don’t use the phone manufacturer’s charger you risk ruining its battery or having the phone explode. This is patently false. You can obviously use other chargers to charge your phone. It may not charge as fast, but as long as you use a well-made charger with the same specs there is no reason to think that the device will be harmed by using chargers not made by the manufacturer of the phone. Avoid cheap and poorly made charging hardware, and you and your phone should be just fine.

Myth #5 - Using a private browser will keep you hidden.

Occasionally, you’ll come across a person that seems to think that the private browsing function that all major browsers have, was made to ensure that no one can track their browsing history. Of course, written on the browser window is a message that says the inverse is true. The private browsing action will only erase locally saved data. Any external source can still track your activity. If you want a secure and private viewing experience, you will need a Virtual Private Network.

Do you have any myths you’d like us to debunk? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and return to our blog for more great technology information.