Latches Right On

What’s the technological no-no from yesteryear that lives on in your brain?

I ask because today’s product involves two that I still think about, one more than the other.

The first (lesser) thing: plugging something in when its battery is not fully dead. Do you remember when this was a problem? You’d charge something for fifteen minutes, unplug it, and the amnesiac battery would be like, “Oh, sick, this is what full means now!”

This one, I mostly don’t worry about anymore. Too much.

But every now and then, I get some product–most recently, an electric hedge trimmer–and I’m like, I’m not going to screw this up on day one by unplugging it partially charged, am I?

The bigger thing for me: I’m still not comfortable putting a magnet near a screen. I have too many memories of moving a magnet slightly near a computer screen and seeing the image begin to warp and degrade.

And so I see a product like today’s–a power bank capable of attaching to the back of a phone, allowing for ease of transport–and I understand the utility. I get how convenient that can be; you can attach the power bank to your phone and put both right into your pocket. Neat!

And yet.

There’s still a little voice in my head that says: You sure you want to do that?

Which prompted me to think about other outdated tech concerns. Posing the topic to @Dave, he provided two more:

1. Concerns about monitor burn-in (which made us both nostalgic for the screensavers from our past), and…

2. Fear of getting your phone wet.

Now, this second one is not universally solved, by any means. But we do seem to be getting further and further from the “QUICK! PUT IT IN RICE!” era. And, honestly, this is the hardest one to wrap my mind around. Electronic Device + Water = Bad. That feels like a fundamental truth, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get comfortable rinsing off my phone screen in the sink.

So, I’m curious: what are yours? Hop in the comments and tell us what outmoded tech-related anxieties plague you even as you understand that, on some level, they’re no longer a problem.

Or just buy the power bank. That’s fine too.