Technology
Exploring "Why" questions about Technology
491 articles
Why do some wires, such as phone chargers, eventually become fussy and work only when placed into a very specific position?
Cables like that are made up of a bunch of very thin wires inside. If you abuse your cables, such as by coiling them up very tightly, you can break the internal wires or the connections between the wi
Why do pictures that have the same number of pixels have different file sizes?
It depends on the type of file. But most file types that contain pictures are compressed. Some pictures can be compressed more than others - if there are large parts of the picture that are the same c
Why do carbonated beverages have streams of bubbles coming from seemingly nowhere?
The bubbles are carbon dioxide gas. The gas is initially dissolved in the liquid, like you would dissolve salt or sugar in water. However, as pressure and temperature decrease, gases become less good
Why do the United States have such a big problem with internet providers ?
You hit things right on the head in your first paragraph. In many areas there are no options about your provider. This is usually in areas with lower population density where it wouldn't be very profi
Why everyone is having trouble with YouTube videos loading, and why my phone is able to play them just fine.
YouTube has a couple of servers that serve low priority videos (i.e. every video without an advertisement before it) and are throttled. These servers are used with all videos from my understanding, so
Why does a computer screen look pixelated and wavy on a digital camera shot?
The PPI (Pixels Per Inch) of the camera's sensor is battling with the PPI of the computer's screen. This is known as [Moire](_URL_0_).
Why does a processor, for computers, get so hot? How doesn’t it just melt? How does a fan and a heatsink work so well?
There's an enormous amount of work happening in a tiny amount of space. Under load, CPUs use (relatively) huge amounts of electricity, which generates heat. The heat in the CPU can be controlled with
Why can phone cameras record in 4K but not take 4K still photos?
The photos are higher res than that... if you want them smaller just downsample or crop them.
Why is the number pad on my keyboard opposite of the number pad on my phone?
> There isn't a definitive answer, but the most cited theory seems to be that the telephone keypad has letters associated with numbers, so 1 2 3 across the top made more sense. Otherwise, the end o
Why do so few smartphone companies use stock Android?
Custom UI means the users get used to that one experience. Companies hope that users will keep buying their products for that experience (e.g. what Samsung is doing with TouchWiz).