Misconceptions about Technology - mental_floss on YouTube (Ep.5)

Hi, I'm Elliot and this is Mental Floss on YouTube

Today I'm going to talk to you about some misconceptions about technology. So buckle up

They're sign in. Log on. I don't know. This misconception number one

This misconception probably came from one of Apple's marketing strategies. In the early 2000s, Apple's

Apple's Why You Love a Mac website claimed a Mac isn't susceptible to the thousands of viruses

plaguing Windows-based computers. But they stopped marketing its computers that way in 2012, which probably had something

to do with a couple of Trojan Horse programs that had been affecting Mac users

These are like viruses but fall into their own category because the computer user must download

the program, which is pretending to be something else, hence the name, Trojan Horse

You get it? You get it. Misconception number two. It's dangerous to use your cell phone at a gas station

Some people believe that using your cell phone while filling your car with gas may cause fires Plus gas stations usually have signs posted warning against cell phone use but according to the Federal Communications Commission there is no documented incident where the use of a wireless phone was found to cause a fire or explosion at a gas station

Scientists also have found no danger of this happening in their research. Still, the FCC notes that you should obey the signs at gas stations and read your cell phones manual

Cell phones have manuals? Misconception number three, emptying your computer's trash means it's gone for good

Actually, you should always back up your files and be careful what you delete, because this doesn't always work

But if your computer has a magnetic hard drive, the file that appears to be gone forever may just be sitting on the hard drive waiting to be overwritten

Basically, erasing files takes a long time, so these magnetic hard drives keep them around until they can be overwritten by another file

And there's no way to know when this will happen, though, so take your computer into a shop immediately if you need a file back

Go now. Go. You got to go. They close at 7. Misconception number 4. Cell phones cause cancer

We just don't know yet. Comforting, right? According to Cancer.gov, studies thus far have not shown a consistent

consistent link between cell phone use and cancers of the brain, nerves, or other tissues

of the head or neck. Many people believe that there a connection between cell phone use and brain tumors but one study examined over 420 cell phone users over the course of 20 years and found no connection to brain tumors Misconception number five Nobody uses Yahoo Actually Yahoo is currently the fourth most used website in the world

Google is first followed by Facebook, YouTube, and Yahoo. Of course, no one uses Bing, and that's a fact

Just kidding. Spider-Man does. It's AOL nobody uses. Just kidding. My parents do

Misconception number six, video games cause violence. There have been many studies about video games and violence, but as I'm sure you could

probably guess, it's pretty impossible to say that this is an issue of causation rather than

correlation. Some studies have found that students who play a game like Mortal Kombat, as

opposed to a nonviolent game, are more aggressive right after playing. But there's no way to

conclusively translate that data into real-life violent situations. However, there's an episode

of healthcare triage all about this very topic, so click here if you'd like to learn more

Misconception number seven, Apple invented the tablet. While there were earlier prototypes and

attempts, the grid pad is generally considered the very first tablet. It was really

by grid systems all the way back in 1989. That was two years old then

And it was actually quite successful, though mostly intended for use by businesses because it cost around $3,000

Misconception number eight the web and the internet are totally the same thing The internet is the network of hardware and software that connects all of us Things like transferring files to another computer and sending emails require the internet It was invented in 1969 making it older than the web

The World Wide Web, however, was developed in 1990. This is what you find on your web browser like Safari or Chrome to look at web pages like

mental flaws. Hi, how are you? The Internet is what makes the web possible, basically

Misconception number nine, most internet users live in the US or Europe

China has the most internet users compared to any country. in the world because of course they do

Also in the top 20, India, Japan, Brazil, Russia, Nigeria, South Korea, Egypt, and Vietnam

Misconception number 10, men are way more likely to play video games

Actually, 45% of game players are female. And 31% of the game playing population are adult women

And 100% of them are tired of being referred to as girl gamers. Thank you for watching Misconceptions on Mental Floss

on YouTube that is made with the help of all these super nice people. And if you have a topic for an upcoming episode

of misconceptions that you would like to see, Leave it in the comments, and I will see you next week

It's going to be great. Really? I'm not going to tell you what it's about, because I don't know yet