Our Engrained "Computer Myths"

There are times when you have came across the power crises in big departmental stores and the cashier just refuses to process the items since the whole electronic system is down, Now they know all the basic four mathematical operations like the 5 yr old but will even refuse to process your 20 bucks single toothbrush as the processing PC is not powered. Story just doesn't stop here, if a certain item demands a change in return, we already give them the pre calculated sum to get the whole notes in return. Still they don't even look at the money offered and continue their point blank tip tap on keyboard and let the machine do the math. Tell me, what feeling you get ? Tired, angry, bored, frustrated or all rolled into one? When the waiting queue is long during peak hour selling, the situation aggravates further.

Sound familiar?? Well welcome to the world of Computer Myths... a grey prejudiced area so well set in our minds that we almost take it for granted unconsciously....Lets explore a closer look at it.

If it looks cool, it's definitely a must buy as it is feature rich

There is tendency among us all that a cool looking product/gadget is usually feature rich and handy. Only to later find out that it was not worth its promises. Well, before reaching out to your wallet, have you checked out the features what they mean to you? Take mobile devices for instance. Have you checked that Nokia N-Series mobile phones are optimized for music lovers rather that business class users? If you are more of a business user an E-Series is more suitable than the N series one and vice versa. Put your priorities first, the gadget fulfilling your exact most important needs may be lying around the corner at half or on-third prices. More importantly, does those "cool" features are actually helpful to you meeting your primary needs more effectively?

A Mac-Air notebook may prove a waste if you don’t plan on a portable access to PC or willing to have a go w/o a CD/DVD drives. A Nokia 1110 with strong vibratory alerts may help you to attend urgent calls in a noisy public place or inside chugging, screaming auto rickshaw than your latest out of the shell "trendy" touch screen mobile with squeaky in-built vibrator(it is assumed that the basic thing you do is to do more talking than anything more significant here). Double check the phone/PC to ensure whether it is really helpful to you to stay organized or rather it becomes more of a fashion accessory. Looks plus loads of features alone don't make a great choice but addressing your needs at right prices surely does have a long term impact.

Higher the price, more capable and more worthy the device is

Nothing more can be more fatal than this attitude. A product excelling in one feature may lose out in others which are more important to YOU. Paying that non-essential extra premium is certainly not advisable under the cover of "Hey, everyone else is doing it, why not I, this one is under my budget". Prices almost halve within the first 6-9 months in cases of mobiles. If you do find a device that practically addresses most of your required needs, wait for some time for prices to become more reasonable . Then push GO for it. Save your valuable extra bucks!!

Higher prices may attribute to a specific technology such as "Accelerometer" patented technology of Nokia in its latest N-Series phones which still keeps it away from the reasonably cushioned budgeted user also. Read what are the advantages AND disadvantages of it. LOOK for the most ill reviewer who has written for the praised technology. You might be able to get enlightened by the experiences and troubles faced by some other similar troubled but now wisened person. Some even post useful firmware fixes links etc for that. This will give you more bang for your bucks certainly.

Look for the peer advice & expert view on the after sales service and customer care of the company mobile of the said model too. That is perhaps more important when you land in troubled waters such as battery replacement etc. These sure make your investment worthwhile, not the one which make your taking out more bucks from your pocket tending to paying more than expected,

A Person using the "cool" and "in" gadgets or technology is a more enlightened one

Not Quite. Most of time you'd hear a babble of techno jargon with a dash of macho hand move and false grin from the "DUDE". Next time ask him how effectively the cool technology increases our productivity and how it can further enhance our everyday tasks. Put a real life example before him to prove his point. Believe me; majority (not everyone of course) of them will shy away from the answer.

Using a newer or improved technology doesn't mean it becomes "universal" for everything. Until of course it overshadows the old one so publically that it is the accepted standard. Technologies can coexist in same time frame for very long period. It is our duty to be educated and have working knowledge about those. Proper tools can be used at right time to get maximum of our work. Wishing a loved one on phone on his/her achievement is much more satisfying and intimate than doing it on Orkut publically. Vice-versa saying a casual "Hi, how are u doing" on Orkut is more logical than on phone. So who is more enlightened one? Person using only Orkut or the one using Orkut interchangeably with phone? Judge yourself.

Computers can't make mistakes. They are programmed to do right

Refer the opening example. Sure the laser beam activated bar code readers can't make any mistake in reading the codes. But what if the same item is mistakenly or purposely read multiple times? Imagine the multiplier effect on your net bill. We almost take it for granted that the billing is done correctly and merely end up paying more (quite possibly) or less (in very rare cases). We don’t check the bill by comparing items.

Computers were designed to reduced human induced mistakes of calculating but not checking on inputs supplied to them. So next time do a cursory check on the bill before ordering final packing.

How many times have you witnessed the live C/C++/Java example giving incorrect results when each syntax was correct & flow of control was right, only to discover later that the underlying logic itself was flawed?? A US submarine missile crashes in a civilian area near the Iraq site killing innocent people miles off its intended target in Iraq. Why did it happen? A logic flaw in coordinate system proved a culprit. Imagine the consequences! But technically, the computer guided missile did the job, only this time at wrong place at wrong time. Moral of story, when human mind does or leaves mistakes, computer does the exact replica of that, given its preliminaries are done correctly in technical environment.

The BIG company’s claims’ are "always" right

How many times has your Windows 95/98 2000/XP and Vista showed BSOD (Blue Screen of death)?? But every time weren't they labeled as the safest OS ever?? In case of Windows 98, it showed BSOD on its premiere date. XP’s story everybody knows. Vista is already making headlines with its compatibility issues and various nuisance popups of UAC centre.

We all blindly expect our top CD/DVD discs to be dust, shock, grease proof only to shower them with liberal doses of samosa's oil stricken fingers and potato chip eating handling leaving them besides laptops/ desktops to gather dust and bear heat of exhaust fans. Wow !! even the laboratory testing couldn't have been more rigorous.

How many of us have read the user manual that comes with each product. READ the bottom line FINE PRINT. Did you know that the 100 year archival capacity of DVD/CD's we leave so carelessly around is possible only by storing then in a clean dust free, moisture free room within a bath of argon gas ?? Industry news says that the pre-stamped discs from production houses have better lasting capacity than the burned discs for private use. Phew! And we thought that all discs were the same. Time to get disciplined folks, no shortcuts with this. Get a good maintenance guide for you PC and follow that every weekend if you really want a smooth ride. Avoid as possible, the famous tea snacks on computer while chatting, orkutting, or surfing.

So, finally we do have straightened some things here. The message here I want to convey here is that there is no substitute of proper computer maintenance. Every fortnight or month, make a rule to clean up your hardware peripherals. Google ways to accomplish this. Update every virus definitions you have, apply security patches to your OS and most importantly improve your perspective about computers and technology.. These machines and techniques have a lot of power and potential to tap.. They are the sleeping giants which can do wonders to your productivity. Combine them with human common sense, and you get a lethal advantage over others to stay ahead leaving your time to channelize your constructive energy elseware at higher levels.