What I learned about computers from the Movies:
- all movie computers have cheesy sound effects, at least while the main character is using them. All the OTHER computers in the room are silent.
- police departments that don't have budgets to replace 30 year old desk chairs have computer systems with advanced graphical interfaces that rival the best the NSA has to offer.
- when movie characters are typing text, there is usually no cursor; the letters just appear (that's because the actor is just hitting random keys, and the computer is programmed to add the next character from a text file with each keystroke, regardless of what key is actually hit). And usually, the only thing on the screen is the application they are using, or even worse, the dialog box they are typing in. No one has a conventional, multitasking desktop.
- Many times, you can see the QuickTime bar on an animation that is supposed to be some application doing something.
- EVERY computer can do fingerprint or face recognition, and everyone has a full dossier with full-color headshots and black & white "survailence" pics.
- When performing a search, such as a face recognition search, the peoples' pictures flash on the screen as they are tested, because a simple waitbar would be boring.
- You can log into ANY government agency's mainframe via the login box on their Internet website.
- A floppy disc can hold 500 GB of data.
- Hacker's "hack" using 3D wireframe graphics with full sound; never by reading or typing text.
- "Virtual Realities" are all accessed via an "acid trip graphics tunnel" effect, ala Tron.
- EVERY computer is an Apple.
This is why everything you learned at the movies is WRONG. Guns, cars, computers, physics, the law, forensics, courtroom activity, and so on, is ALL WRONG. Oh, and let's not forget Navy SEALs...
-Troy