關(guān)于科技產(chǎn)品的五大誤解，你中招了嗎？

Most of us just want our technology to work when we need it, and when we have problems with it, we don’t dive into the details of how it runs — we just want it fixed. So it’s natural that we fall for the most convenient suggestions for resolving issues or getting the most life out of our gear. Unfortunately, some of those premises are false, and they can do more harm than good — and may even cost us money.

我們大多數(shù)人只是希望技術(shù)在我們需要時(shí)發(fā)揮作用，當(dāng)我們遇到問題時(shí)，我們不會深究它的運(yùn)行細(xì)節(jié)——只是希望它被修好。因此，我們自然想要采用最便捷的建議來解決問題，或者最充分地利用我們的設(shè)備。不幸的是，有些觀念是錯(cuò)誤的，它們弊大于利，甚至可能讓我們白花錢。

Here are a few tech misconceptions to watch out for:

以下是一些需要留意的技術(shù)方面的錯(cuò)誤觀念：

Myth 1: Better specs mean better devices

誤解一：配置越好，設(shè)備越好

Whether you’re looking for a new laptop or a new smartphone, you’ve probably been tempted to just throw money at the top model and save the mental gymnastics over specs and features. It’s natural: We often hope that spending a little more to get the fastest phone will make it last longer , or that the computer with the most memory and storage will run faster. It’s not just you — manufacturers depend on customers thinking that way, and they price models accordingly.

無論你是購買新筆記本電腦還是新智能手機(jī)，你都很可能被誘惑著想把錢花在頂級機(jī)型上，不想花腦筋研究配置和功能。這是很自然的：我們往往希望，多花一點(diǎn)錢買到的最快的手機(jī)能用的更久一點(diǎn)，或者認(rèn)為內(nèi)存和存儲空間最大的電腦會運(yùn)行得更快一些。不是只有你這樣想——制造商也是根據(jù)客戶的這種想法，相應(yīng)地給機(jī)型定價(jià)。

In reality, top-of-the-line specs don’t guarantee that your phone or computer will work any better for you than one with more modest features. For example, spending more on a laptop with the absolute fastest processor won’t matter much unless you’re doing processor-heavy tasks like editing video or encoding music. Similarly, worrying about whether your smartphone has the latest processor versus the one in last year’s model probably won’t matter as much as more practical details, like whether the storage space or the camera quality fits your needs. For most people, obsessing over specs is a waste of time.

事實(shí)上，與功能更普通的設(shè)備相比，頂級配置并不能保證你的手機(jī)或電腦更適合你。例如，除非你經(jīng)常需要完成編輯視頻或音樂等對處理器要求很高的任務(wù)，那么你其實(shí)沒必要花更多的錢購買處理器速度絕對最快的筆記本電腦。同樣地，與去年的機(jī)型相比，是否擁有最新的處理器其實(shí)沒有其他一些更實(shí)際的細(xì)節(jié)重要，比如存儲空間或相機(jī)質(zhì)量是否符合你的需要。對大多數(shù)人來說，死盯著配置是浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。

The real message here is that while it’s easy to get caught up in the game of latest-and-greatest, you should really pay attention to the features that matter to how you’ll be using your new computer, phone or other device. If you’re looking for a phone that’ll last all day, focus on the battery. If you want a computer you can travel with, battery life and weight may matter more than a powerful processor. But never just buy the biggest and best and assume it’ll fit all of your needs.

我真正要說的是，雖然我們很容易被最新最好的設(shè)備吸引，但你真正應(yīng)該關(guān)注的是那些與你將來使用新電腦或手機(jī)等設(shè)備相關(guān)的功能。如果你想要一款能待機(jī)一整天的手機(jī)，那么你就應(yīng)該把注意力放在電池上。如果你想要一臺旅行時(shí)可以攜帶的電腦，那么電池壽命和重量可能比強(qiáng)大的處理器更重要。不過，永遠(yuǎn)別以為，買最大最好的，就能滿足你的所有需求。

Myth 2: A battery should be at zero before you recharge it

誤解二：應(yīng)該在電量耗盡后再充電

The idea that you should always completely discharge a battery before charging it up again has legitimate origins, but it doesn’t apply to current technology. Years ago, when nickel–metal hydride (NiMH) and nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries were common, they suffered from an issue called “battery memory”: Unless the battery was completely spent before being recharged, it would “remember” how much power it had used and only charge back up that amount. If done repeatedly over time, the battery would never charge totally again.

電量耗盡后再充電的觀念是有合理根源的，但它不適用于當(dāng)前的技術(shù)。多年前，鎳氫和鎳鎘電池很常見，它們有一個(gè)被稱為“電池記憶”的問題：除非在充電前將電量完全耗盡，否則它會“記住”自己用了多少電量，只會再充那么多電。如果在一段時(shí)間內(nèi)多次重復(fù)，那么電池將永遠(yuǎn)不能再完全充滿電。

Fortunately, the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery that’s probably in your phone or laptop right now doesn’t suffer from this issue, at least not in any significant way. In fact, with Li-ion batteries, you can actually do more harm than good by letting them die before charging them again, because they have a limited number of charge “cycles” (meaning times you can completely discharge and recharge them) before batteries start to hold less overall power.

幸運(yùn)的是，現(xiàn)在你的手機(jī)或筆記本電腦很可能配的是鋰離子電池，它并沒有這個(gè)問題，至少沒多大影響。事實(shí)上，對鋰離子電池來說，把電量耗盡再充電弊大于利，因?yàn)樵谒荒芡耆潆娭?，它的充?ldquo;周期”次數(shù)(指的是完全放電和充電的次數(shù))是有限的。

Luckily, according to Battery University, the solution is pretty simple: Charge your devices from time to time before they fully die. These so-called shallow discharges mean you don’t use a full charge cycle every time you top off your phone after carrying it for a few hours or plug in your laptop after working on the couch for the afternoon. In reality, the biggest enemy of modern batteries is temperature. The cooler you can keep your battery, either while charging it or while it’s in use, the more you can prolong its life.

幸運(yùn)的是，據(jù)電池大學(xué)公司(Battery University)稱，解決方法很簡單：在電池完全沒電之前，經(jīng)常給它們充電。這種所謂的“淺層放電”意味著，如果你使用手機(jī)幾個(gè)小時(shí)后就給它充電，或者在沙發(fā)上工作幾個(gè)小時(shí)后就給筆記本電腦充電，那么你就沒有完成一個(gè)完整的充電周期。事實(shí)上，現(xiàn)代電池最大的敵人是溫度。越是能讓你的電池保持清涼——不管是充電時(shí)還是使用時(shí)——它的壽命越長。

Myth 3: More megapixels mean better cameras

誤解三：像素越大，相機(jī)越好

When small, portable point-and-shoot cameras took off and larger, digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras became more affordable, there was a brief rush among manufacturers to push out models with greater numbers of “megapixels,” the unit of capacity used to define how much information a digital camera’s sensor can capture. Unfortunately, because those numbers dazzled spec-hungry consumers and could be used to market cameras, shoppers began to assume that more megapixels meant you were buying a better camera. And you can’t really blame them — marketers latched on to the idea, and even now, in modern smartphones, the first spec anyone mentions about the built-in camera is the megapixels.

隨著便攜式自動對焦相機(jī)的普及，以及體型較大的數(shù)碼單反相機(jī)的價(jià)格下降，有段時(shí)間各大制造商都在匆忙推出有更多“百萬像素”的機(jī)型，“像素”是用于定義數(shù)碼相機(jī)傳感器捕獲信息容量的單位。不幸的是，這些數(shù)字可以讓追求配置的消費(fèi)者贊嘆，可以用于相機(jī)營銷，因此消費(fèi)者開始認(rèn)為“百萬像素”前面的數(shù)字越大，相機(jī)也就越好。這不怪他們——這個(gè)概念是營銷人員精心培育的。即使到了現(xiàn)在，提到現(xiàn)代智能手機(jī)中的內(nèi)置攝像頭，人們想起的第一個(gè)規(guī)格就是它有幾百萬像素。

All of this led to the “megapixel myth,” which has persisted for almost a decade. While most budding photographers understand that more isn’t always better in a camera, shoppers looking for a good smartphone camera, and the phone manufacturers themselves, haven’t seemed to learn the lesson.

所有這一切導(dǎo)致了持續(xù)近十年的“百萬像素誤區(qū)”。雖然大多數(shù)新手?jǐn)z影師都明白，對于相機(jī)來說，“更多”并不總是意味著“更好”，然而購物者總想買到一款相機(jī)功能更好的智能手機(jī)，而手機(jī)制造商們似乎并沒有學(xué)到這個(gè)教訓(xùn)。

Megapixels still count — they do tell you how powerful a camera’s sensor is, which is important for professionals or anyone who needs to print out physical photographs (when translated to paper more pixels per inch can mean more detailed prints), but it doesn’t necessarily tell you how good the photos taken by that camera will be.

百萬像素仍然有其意義——它的確能告訴你相機(jī)的傳感器有多強(qiáng)大，這對專業(yè)人士以及任何需要打印出實(shí)體照片的人來說都很重要(像素密度越大，印在相紙上的圖片就越清晰)，但它并不一定能告訴你，用那部相機(jī)可以把照片拍得有多好。

To find that out, look past the specs (again!) and to reviews. Even better, look for examples of photos taken with a certain phone or camera and compare them to those from other popular models — or even the one you already have. Look for reviews that mention a camera’s lowlight performance and, perhaps most important, get familiar with your camera’s options. The best photos come from someone who knows how to tweak the settings for the perfect shot.

要找出后一個(gè)問題的答案，請(再次!)忽略配置，并關(guān)注評測信息。最好是找出用某款手機(jī)或相機(jī)拍攝的照片，拿它們和人氣高的型號——或者哪怕是你手頭上的那款——拍出的照片相比較。請查閱提及相機(jī)低光表現(xiàn)的評測信息，或許最重要的是熟悉相機(jī)自帶的選項(xiàng)。知道如何調(diào)整設(shè)置的人才能找到完美的方式，拍出最好的照片。

Myth 4: “Planned obsolescence” is why your phone slows down right before a new model comes out

誤解四：你的手機(jī)運(yùn)行速度恰好在新款上市前夕變慢，是“計(jì)劃性報(bào)廢”在作怪

It happens every year or so: Just before the latest and greatest phone comes out, your phone suddenly starts running slowly. Maybe it starts freezing, or the apps you use get sluggish. Either way, if you can relate, you can probably also understand the common feeling that this is all a plan by tech companies to force you into upgrading — a trick called “planned obsolescence.” While that’s a real problem in some specific cases, assuming it’s the reason everyone’s old phones get slow before new ones are announced is, well, a bit of an oversimplification.

每隔一年左右就會發(fā)生這種事：在最新最棒的手機(jī)就要上市前，你的手機(jī)運(yùn)行速度突然開始變慢。它或許開始死機(jī)，又或許出現(xiàn)應(yīng)用程序跑得很慢的問題。不管怎樣，如果你了解上述情形，那你或許也能理解一種普遍存在的感受：這全都是科技企業(yè)計(jì)劃好的，只為迫使你升級手頭的設(shè)備——這個(gè)小花招就叫“計(jì)劃性報(bào)廢”。某些特殊情況下的確存在這種問題，不過要是覺得它是所有人的舊手機(jī)在新款即將上市時(shí)變慢的原因，就把事情看得太簡單了點(diǎn)兒。

In reality, it’s not a conspiracy, and it’s not some corporate trick to force you into the newest tech, or trap you on the consumerist treadmill. It’s just a side effect of an ever-evolving and ever-improving industry. As those new phones are released, they come with more memory, better screens, faster processors and other specs that, in general, you shouldn’t care about — unless developers start building their apps around them. When they do, they optimize their apps for the newer devices, leaving your older ones in the dust.

事實(shí)上，沒有什么陰謀，也不是企業(yè)的花招在迫使你入手最新科技產(chǎn)品，或讓你沿著消費(fèi)主義道路一路狂奔。這只是一個(gè)日益進(jìn)化、日益完善的行業(yè)的副產(chǎn)品。廠商推出的那些新手機(jī)，有著更大的內(nèi)存、更好的屏幕、更快的處理器，以及其他一些總體而言你不應(yīng)該在意的配置——除非開發(fā)人員開始圍繞它們完善自己的應(yīng)用程序。這樣做的時(shí)候，他們會針對新設(shè)備優(yōu)化自己的應(yīng)用程序，你的舊設(shè)備則被拋諸腦后。

So as apps are updated to make use of all of the features on those new devices, they seem to slow down on older phones. And unless the developers care enough to make sure your older phones are properly supported, the problem only gets worse over time. The annoying end result may be the same, but you can at least rest comfortably knowing there’s no massive conspiracy (here, anyway) to make you keep spending money.

因此，當(dāng)應(yīng)用程序得到升級，以便更好地利用新設(shè)備的特性時(shí)，它們在舊手機(jī)上似乎就變慢了。除非開發(fā)人員足夠貼心，讓你的舊手機(jī)得到適當(dāng)?shù)闹С?，否則隨著時(shí)間的推移，這個(gè)問題會越來越嚴(yán)重。最終結(jié)果或許同樣令人惱火，但你至少可以寬慰地得知，沒有什么讓你不斷花錢的驚天陰謀(這里反正沒有)。

Myth 5: Extended warranty plans are worth your money

誤解五：延保計(jì)劃是值得的

It’s tough to buy anything at this point without being offered an extended warranty. Whether you’re shopping online or in a brick-and-mortar store, retailers often dangle third-party “protection programs” and “service plans” in front of you, promising that, for a few extra bucks, they’ll replace or repair your purchase if damaged over the next few years. The problem with these offers is that they’re almost always unnecessary — or worse than what you could get otherwise with a little savvy shopping.

眼下，無論你買什么東西，對方不提供延保計(jì)劃的情況可太少見了。不論你在網(wǎng)上還是實(shí)體店里購物，零售商都常常向你推銷第三方“保護(hù)計(jì)劃”或“服務(wù)計(jì)劃”，它們承諾，你只要再多花一點(diǎn)錢，你購買的設(shè)備在未來幾年里發(fā)生損壞時(shí)，就會得到更換或修理。這些計(jì)劃的問題在于：它們幾乎總是不必要的——又或者你能從中得到的好處非常有限，還不如在購物時(shí)更精明一點(diǎn)來得管用。

In many cases, the pricey extended warranty runs right alongside the existing manufacturer’s warranty, which means you may be paying twice for coverage the phone’s maker already provides. So be sure to research the warranty that comes with your device. Similarly, if you use a credit card, you may even have extended warranty protection through the card’s issuer — check with that company before you add the pricey phone to your cart.

很多時(shí)候，昂貴的延保服務(wù)與生產(chǎn)商原本就提供的質(zhì)保服務(wù)在時(shí)間段上存在重疊，這意味著你或許要為手機(jī)生產(chǎn)商已經(jīng)提供的保障再花一份錢。因此一定要研究一下你的設(shè)備自帶的質(zhì)保服務(wù)。與此類似的是，如果你使用信用卡，你甚至可能已經(jīng)通過發(fā)卡機(jī)構(gòu)獲得了延保——在把昂貴的手機(jī)加入購物車之前，請跟那家公司進(jìn)行核實(shí)。

Finally, consider how much the extended warranty costs versus the actual total of the gadget you’re buying. You may be better off taking the money you would have used on the warranty plan and stashing it in a savings account as a “rainy day fund.” Then, if you do need to pay for a repair or replacement, you can use your own cash instead of having to jump through the hoops of getting service from the company managing the protection program.

最后，請考慮一下，延保費(fèi)用是多少，購買設(shè)備的實(shí)際總花銷又會是多少。你或許莫不如省下購買延保服務(wù)的錢，將其存入一個(gè)儲蓄賬戶，作為“雨天基金”。這樣一來，如果需要為修理或更換設(shè)備付款，你可以用自己的錢，不用被迫走一道又一道繁瑣的程序，只為從經(jīng)營保護(hù)計(jì)劃的公司那里獲得服務(wù)。