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.
The Home Computer in 2004, Courtesy of the Rand Corp. in 1954
The photo was supposed to have appeared in a 1954 edition of Popular Mechanics. The caption reads: "Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a 'home computer' could look like in the year 2004. However, the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use."
E-mails with the purported mock-up started making the rounds in 2004. The image is doctored more times than Michael Jackson's nose. It's actually that of a nuclear submarine that was altered as part of a Fark.com competition. The man in the suit remains unidentified.
