Information technology is rapidly evolving since its beginning in the mid-20th century. With the rapid evolution, many people need help to grapple with the advancements, so misconceptions arise due to the need for more understanding of newer technology. Many things that were true for older technology no longer hold, yet people stick to it without validating that information for updated technology.
These concepts spread like wildfire over the internet without being fact-checked. Some myths are so prevalent that people equate them to common sense. Here are some of these myths debunked using facts.
Myth 1: Incognito or Private Browsing Makes You Untraceable
Fact: Incognito or private browsing lets users browse without saving browsing history locally only. It enables the user to browse without data being saved on the computer. However, it will not make them untraceable; this is written on the support page of Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode, but many users skip over it.
Incognito browsing activities are still visible and traceable to the Internet Service Provider, network administrators, websites being visited and search engines or online services that recognize the browser via the unique ‘fingerprint’ of the computer. Going Incognito does not make you invisible, nor does it hide the IP address, so the misconception that Incognito makes the user anonymous is false.
Myth 2: The More Cores the Processor has, the Faster the System is
Fact: Generally, it is believed that a multi-core processor equates to faster processing, making the computer's speed faster; this is an oversimplification, as multi-cores allow parallel processing, whereas speed also depends on clock speed, processor architecture, task requirement, and efficiency. Therefore, increasing the number of cores will not be necessary to speed up the processor as other factors like clock speed also come into play.
Myth 3: Charge Mobile and Laptop Batteries Only When Fully Discharged
Fact: This is one of the myths that was true for the nickel-cadmium batteries that were used previously. For modern lithium-ion batteries, this is not true, as they can become permanently damaged if discharged completely. Lithium-ion batteries do not have the memory effect, so keeping them charged between 20 to 80% is optimum. Ideally, charge the devices before the battery completely dies.
Myth 4: More Ram Means More Speed
Fact: Most people tie RAM capacity with speed and keep increasing RAM for faster speeds; this is false, as RAM holds data temporarily for active processes. However, it contributes to the overall performance as it allows more programs to run simultaneously but does not increase processing speed.
Beyond 4GB of RAM, there is little difference in speed. The type of RAM (fast RAM) is essential to increase speed, but the memory capacity needs to be improved.
Myth 5: Do not Unplug USBs without Safely Ejecting Them From the System
Fact: Since the introduction of plug-and-play USB drives, it has been the norm first to click the “Safely remove USB device” button and then dismount the USB device. However, this is unnecessary for today’s devices if no active data read/write session exists.
When the USB is not in use, simply ejecting it will cause no harm to the device or data on it. Even if the USB was used, wait 0.5 seconds after the data transfer is complete and dismount it without device or data corruption.
Myth 6: Full Network Bars Equate to Full Network Service
Fact: It is expected to check the number of bars in the network icon to gauge how much network service is available. However, experience shows that even with full bars, there are slow network and internet issues. The bars only represent the strength of the signals from a nearby mobile tower. If the mobile tower has sluggish service from the back end or too many users are connected, even with full bars, there will be network service issues like call drops and interruptions. Therefore, these bars do not represent the data transfer speed or network service strength.
Myth 7: Erasing Files from the Recycle Bin Completely Deletes It from the Hard Disk
Fact: Most people believe that to completely erase data, delete it from the drive and then from the recycle bin; this is not the case, as the data is not deleted forever; instead, it is marked as deleted. Therefore, the data is present and will be overwritten in the future by new data. Until then, it is possible to retrieve the deleted data.
Myth 8: Closing Background Applications Will Speed up the Phone
Fact: Some processes run in the background whenever an application is closed. These background processes utilize memory and battery, but killing them will put undue strain on the resources. Nowadays, smartphones can efficiently manage processes, so manually closing backend applications has more drawbacks than benefits, as restarting applications now requires more resources. Some apps keep restarting when they are forcefully stopped, so it is useless to kill the background processes as they will restart immediately anyway. Therefore, killing background apps does not save resources but does the opposite of straining resources further, so using the battery saver mode is better.
Myth 9: Overcharging a Mobile will Damage the Battery
Fact: Many people charge their devices overnight, and it is commonly perceived to damage the battery. It was true for nickel-cadmium batteries due to the memory effect, but this is false for lithium-ion batteries.
Modern lithium-ion batteries are efficient and have sensors that stop charging when they reach total charging capacity, so even if the charger is plugged in, it will not charge any further. Overcharging is not an issue, but fully discharging is harmful, so ideally, the battery should be 20-80% charged.
Myth 10: More Megapixels Means Better Camera Quality
Fact: When comparing between cameras, usually the megapixels are compared. It is commonly thought that more megapixels mean better photo quality; this is baseless as the photo quality depends on many things, like the camera sensors, camera processor, and camera lens quality. The number of megapixels determines the zooming power. Meanwhile, the quality is determined by how much light the sensor can detect and how it is processed. Nowadays, the quality of the image is also dependent on the image processing capabilities of the device. So, it is not true that increased megapixels have better camera quality.
Conclusion
These were some of the popular myths regarding information technology that were prevalent for a long time and considered valid. These myths were debunked using simple logic and basic technical knowledge. Now you know that going Incognito will not make you anonymous or untraceable. Neither more processor cores nor more RAM depicts higher processing speeds. Batteries of this era should not be fully discharged, and overcharging will not damage them. Dismount USBs without a safe ejection prompt fearlessly. Quit closing background apps to speed up the device; it does more harm than good. Remember that even emptying the Recycle bin will only partially erase the data. More network bars should not be equated with more network service or coverage. As for cameras, more megapixels sometimes mean better camera quality. Therefore, the next time someone presents such myths, carry out a fact check before unquestioningly believing it to be true.
