Written by Iain Thomson and Shaun Nichols in San Francisco vnunet.com, 28 Feb 2009 Computers are extremely complicated machines, to say the least. The modern IT world is so complicated and moves so fast that even the most cutting-edge technology ages in dog years, times three. As such, it's no surprise that many people still believe things that are either inaccurate, outdated or just outright fabrications. Human beings have been described as the story telling ape. We seek out patterns and stories to explain everyday life and myths, both computing and urban are an example of this. In some cases they are useful, parables are an important feature of learning by example, but in some cases they can be counterproductive. This week, we take a look at some of the more prevalent urban legends of Silicon Valley. Some have a basis in truth, while others are just a good tale to tell. Let us know if you have any favorites we've missed. Honorable mention: Macs cost more than PCs Shaun Nichols: This one only made honorable mention mainly because, well, it's true on some level. You can get a Dell or Gateway notebook or desktop PC for less than an iMac or Macbook. The catch is, you also get less hardware. Apple likes to load even their low-end models with a certain amount of power and connections. If you were to check the option boxes for all the bells and whistles on a Mac, the cost difference shrinks dramatically, and in some cases the PC is even more expensive. So the rub here is whether you actually do want and need the extras found on the Apple computer. If not, then it is cheaper to go with a PC. Pound for pound, however, the idea that Apple arbitrarily prices their systems higher is wrong. Iain Thomson: Apple has always concentrated on the high end of the computer market because, I think, it likes making quality products and that costs money. But I have to say that a quick trawl through web sites shows that you do seem to get less for your money from Apple. Looking at base specifications at Apple MacBook Pro 17 inch shipped to California sells for $3,036.92. Pretty much the same machine (although it's not as pretty), a Dell Studio 17, costs a touch over $2,000, albeit with a $375 sale discount. In trying times like these that's a big saving and it's difficult to see how Apple justifies the price. Honorable mention: Pirated material makes up the bulk of internet traffic Iain Thomson: In one legal case after another this same statistic gets trotted out – pirated material, especially torrents, makes up the vast bulk of internet traffic. This is a highly useful fact to trot out if you are trying to limit some people's bandwidth for example, or press for the jailing of a suspected software pirate but how true is it? I've heard figures of 50, 60 or even 70 per cent but when it comes to specifics people seem less certain. The fact is no-one's particularly sure, and those that are aren't telling, or at least providing the data to back up some claims. One court case in Canada forced an ISP to confess that in fact such material made up less than ten per cent of traffic. What also makes this claim highly suspicious is the fact that not all files sent by torrents or peer to peer systems are pirated. Most Linux distributions are sent using these methods and plenty of people, myself included, use the technology to send large files between systems. Until I see hard data I'm treating this with a pinch of salt. Shaun Nichols: When Comcast laid out their plan to cap bandwidth usage, they said that in order to reach the limit, a user would have to download an average of three full-length movies per day. As few people download entire movies, and even fewer do so every day, the idea that pirated media traffic is realy clogging systems to the tune that some companies are crying seems improbable. Maybe this has a little more to do with copyright law than it does actual bandwidth problems. Cable providers certainly don't want to find themselves in the crosshairs of the MPAA or the RIAA for "enabling" users to pirate material. Being able to claim that P2P traffic is clogging the tubes is a nice excuse to discourage users from pirating movies and songs...Read the full story
thats totally true.., in the US maybe.. But in india, a mac actually is more expensive than a PC. I know so because i ve always wanted a mac but have been unable to buy one..