Technology
Exploring "Why" questions about Technology
491 articles
Why did some animals become mainstream pets?
They were the easiest to tame and domesticate. Also, some had actual uses beyond "companion".
Why do different operating systems require different versions of the same software?
Software developer here, There is a thing called a system call, and this is basically the program asking the operating system to perform some work, for example, reading data from a file. A program doe
Why when I completely wipe an old laptop, it still runs very slow, even though no programs have been installed?
If the hard drive is dying and forcing rereading or bad sectors are preventing sequential writes (making the drive jump around to read it back) it's going to slow you down. It could also be any number
Why are modern computers still having trouble with editing large-ish (20-50MB) text files?
it is the limitations of the software not your computer(usually). if you want to push 1000 balloons up a chimney they still need to go one at a time, more cores and ram = more chimneys. but if you hav
Why can you stream from Netflix/Hulu/HBOGo with no problem, but your laptop heats up and the video lags if you try to watch from the AMC/CBS/NBC website?
Netflix' player is based on HTML5, I can't say anything about the others. But I'm assuming that AMC, etc. have Flash-based players...
Why can you replace only the glass in some phones and you have to replace the full display on others?
On some phones, the screen is bonded (glued) to the glass. This was done supposedly to achieve a clearer image, having less material and an air gap between the top surface and the display. So rather t
Why do I have to close unrelated apps/programs when installing an app/program update on my Mac and/or PC?
Internet browsers can often use plugins from other software/suites e.g. Microsoft Word/office. If the browser is open during the update (i.e.
Why do streamed movies cost the same as DVDs/Blu-Rays?
They charge that amount because people pay it. Yes, it's cheaper to stream than to produce a physical product, but since people will still pay the blu-ray prices for a streamed movie, that's what they
Why do people still fall for pyramid schemes or MLM’s?
the true answer is that they are blinded by greed. look for example at all the people who gave money to bernie madoff. Years before he was 'outed' by his son, a reporter at Barron's, a major financial
Why is editing software so expensive?
Supply and demand. There is a high demand for professional level software and not a lot of options. And if you look at almost any profession, the tools of the trade are often expensive but people pay