RESEARCHERS FIND FILES DO NOT MAKE COMPUTERS HEAVIER

September 12 2009

San Jose, CA – Though the earliest computing devices date back thousands of years it wasn’t until the late 19th century that the term ‘computer’ came into common usage. Throughout the 20th century the computer evolved from a simple mechanical
device, to unwieldy super-processors the size of houses, to the SMS devices capable of virtually unlimited calculations and other forms of data processing. As computers have become more complicated so too has the way in which people use them which has further pushed the demands and needs of the machines.

As the technology has advanced and the machines become more complicated the interaction between users and the devices has equally become more complex. With many people still bearing a great deal of fear towards the modern mechanical wonders and real separations forming between the technological have and have-nots the possibility of mistakes and false assumptions has become more severe. Now a new study from one of the most prominent companies in the computer age, Sun Microsystems, has confirmed what many have believed all along. After extensive study the hardware manufacturer has confirmed that new files added to a hard drive do not in fact add weight to the machines on which they are stored.

“We’ve always believed this idea that new files add weight to a machine has been a common misconception that very few people believed. A few years ago we began to receive quite a few questions regarding just that fact though and that prompted us to conduct a wider survey of our customers. What we found was that this belief is a lot more widespread than we previously believed,” said a spokesperson for the company. “That in turn prompted us to conduct a thorough study of all devices, specifically hard drives, from a wide variety of manufacturers. What we found was no discernable difference in weight between fresh hard drives and ones filled with information. We tested devices with various types of files including data, text, music, and video and through all of those tests the weight remained the same. We can conclusively say that such an event simply does not occur.”

The majority of complaints have come from lap top owners, many of which were over the age of forty. It’s not clear what effect age and the erosion of muscle tissue might have on the perception of weight.

“Essentially data is just formatted differently. The weight stays the same because you are not actually adding anything new to the system you are just reorganizing the way the machine reads the data. Basically that means that the weight of the hard drive is built into the system from the point of manufacturer and is simply rearranged. That’s the simplest way to state it,” said Scrape TV Technology analyst Ken Kevins. “For many people more adept with computers such an idea is laughable but older users simply don’t understand how a computer file differs from a paper file, the kind which they are used to. Obviously when you pack a file cabinet full of files it’s going to get heavier but that simply isn’t the case with digital media.”

In a recent case concerns over ‘cookies’ prompted the industry to attempt clarification over terminology used in the computer world.

“There are advantages and disadvantages to using commonly used words to describe
computer elements. The familiarity means that people can feel more comfortable with the technology and settle into a little more easily. That also means that they expect similar behaviour and that can cause a lot of headaches for users and manufacturers alike,” continued Kevins. “Who knows the real reason behind people making these complaints but it really becomes a significant burden to companies who constantly have to answer these questions and even spend money on conducting surveys and studies. Eventually though as the population ages that will become less important and these kinds of questions won’t ever come up again.”

The survey did find that a healthy number of people under the age of forty did in fact bear the same perception of files, though that is largely attributed to stupidity.  

Martin Philton, Technology Correspondent

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