They Couldn't Have Done That! Ten IT Urban Legends Exposed

By Thomas Wailgum

Urban legends have been with us since human beings started sharing stories. The best urban legends are dramatic, unbelievable and told with such frequency that recipients assume they have to be true. There are the historic "URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL" lucrative business proposals from deposed Nigerian leaders, the horrifying heroin-contaminated hypodermic needle in the McDonald's ball play area and the albino alligators terrorizing New York City sewers.


Of course, these outlandish stories are totally false. The world of information technology is not immune from the reaches of the urban legend. Here are some of the most notable IT urban legends that have propagated over the years. If you want to share one yourself, click here to add your own.


iPods Are Lightning Rods

In July 2007, online publications blurted that "iPods Attract Lightning" and "Using Portable Music Players Attracts Lightning."


The headlines weren't true. The stories referred to doctors' findings in The New England Journal of Medicine that described the cases of men in Canada and Colorado being struck by lightning while wearing iPods. Their injuries—ruptured eardrums, hearing loss and burns—matched the pathway of the headphone cord.


The doctors did not say that the iPod acted as a lightning rod, though, and another letter to the Journal noted: "Eardrum perforation is the norm in lightning-related injury, not a sign of any special effect due to an iPod."

IPod photo: IDG News Service.
Photo illustration by Christine Celli.