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IT Myths: The tallest tech tales, all in one place
Why do we love them? Why do we believe them?

By silicon.com

Published: Friday 01 August 2003

When, a month or so ago, silicon.com threw down the gauntlet, asking for the most outrageous, believable or plain paranoid IT myths, we received some interesting replies.

We subsequently did what many of those who pass on details of these tales rarely do - we checked them out. So whether we were looking at Colombian drug cartels using a mainframe to process phone records and identify informants, or spooks recording and analysing your phone calls, or even a satanic supercomputer in Brussels recording our every move, we felt it was worth a call, worth a bit of digging around.

What we found, more than anything else, is that we all like a tall story. How else can we explain the reason well-educated, informed people routinely pass on stories that seem highly improbable at the best of times? The bulk of tales we heard were false and should be seen as such pretty quickly.

On the other hand, there were elements of truth in at least two of the myths we covered - transatlantic call tapping and Colombian cartel computer usage. And yesterday's piece about the origin of the word 'bug' contained more than just a grain of truth. While some readers felt it was an open and shut case that Grace Hopper coined the phrase (similar usage, it turns out, goes all the way back to a pre-computer Will Shakespeare), most of us are in general agreement that 'computer bugs' literally meant insects in computers at one time.

Why do IT myths get spread? Setting aside those that aren't just interesting, real stories for a second, it's because - like most myths - they are compelling. And oh yes, it's because we're willing to set aside veracity for that sake.

We won't stop IT myths doing the rounds but we will keep on enjoying them. Be sure to send any more you hear to editorial@silicon.com.

All together now: IT Myths: Buggin' out - the history of a word we all hate
IT Myths: Does the 'Beast of Brussels' know everything about us?
IT Myths: Who's analysing our trans-Atlantic phone calls?
IT Myths: Colombian drugs gang's mainframe-assisted assassinations?