‘What’s a childhood computer myth that people actually believed?’ – 22 people who are still mortally afraid of pressing CTRL + BREAK

If you went to a British secondary school in the 80s or 90s, you may have a hazy memory of being drilled by your IT teacher in the importance of NEVER pressing ‘CTRL + BREAK’ on a BBC Microcomputer, lest you wiped the whole thing of vitally important data and the classroom exploded.

They’ve been chatting about the silly things we used to believe about information technology and its related devices on the AskReddit page, after user crookie900 asked this:

What’s a childhood computer myth that people actually believed?

Lots of people chipped in with the misconceptions they bought into when the digital age was still exciting and new.

1.

‘That the increase in productivity that the computer age would bring would also result in tremendous amounts of leisure time for humanity.’
–workerbee223

2.

‘There used to be a widespread belief that by having more people online, we’d realize we’re not so different, that sharing our ideas would bring us together, and we’d become better for it.

No one anticipated that connectedness would make us more divided.’
–ToBePacific

3.

‘For years, my dad refused to get faster internet because he thought that ‘viruses could get in faster’. We were in dial up for years after its reasonable use.’
–ckellingc

4.

‘When I was a kid my Dad told me the dial up sounds were a magic spell and I had to dance it or the internet wouldn’t work.’
–EaterOfLemon

5.

‘It’s a magic box and if you do anything other than follow these specific steps in this order, at best it won’t work and at worst it’ll break forever, burst into flames, and cause thermonuclear war.

Lots of people still exhibit this attitude, sadly.’
–dottmatrix

6.

‘As a kid, I used to move the mouse around while something was loading because I thought it made it go faster. I even remember clicking and dragging loading bars, thinking I could move them along quicker.’
–crookie900

7.

‘It’ll ruin your vision staring at a computer screen that long (I think some studies have shown the benefit of sunlight in children for developing eyesight, but not a detriment of screens).’
–gijoemc

8.

‘When you’re downloading pirated mp3s you’re downloading COMMUNISM!’
–Dron41k

9.

‘That if you forward this email then Bill Gates will send you $10.’
–dalgeek

10.

‘Maybe not a computer, but mother would never let me plug my SNES into the superior upstairs TV because ‘we don’t want it tore up’.’
–NewspaperNelson

11.

‘If you type ‘google’ into Google, you will break the internet.’
–commonally_t