Five Inevitably Stupid Things You’ll Do To Your Gadgets

Much of our entertainment now comes thanks to our gadgets. An odd little side effect of this all is that we’re still clumsy as ever. We drop our phones, brick our video game systems, crash websites, and rack up charges on the app stores.

Inevitably – we’ll do stupid things with our gadgets (that’s for sure).

Here are five of those little blunders we’re all likely to make:

1. Fuel the screen repair business

iCracked is a business started by a twenty-something that now rakes in millions of dollars each year fixing cracked iPod, iPhone, and iPad screens. There is an endless amount of these types of businesses out there.

Yes, we all make mistakes, but isn’t it kind of silly that we spend so much on a gadget and then proceed to fumble it out of our pockets, knock it off the counter, or somehow have a brain fart and get trolled in ways such as standing on an iPad since it has a scale app?

Here’s a tip: Treat your phone like a prized possession and stay aware of your actions. Hold onto the phone with a firm grip – it’s as easy as that.

2. Brick that new video game console

The Xbox One launched not too long ago and it didn’t take long for internet trolls to cycle around disinformation about the console.

One such (somewhat funny) trolling attempt revealed a “process” that would allow users to access the developer console but, in doing so, would brick the system and make it a very expensive paper weight.

Here’s a tip: Don’t trust everything you read online. Better yet – let someone else make that mistake first before you decide to explore these “tips” that sound too good to be true.

3. Share waaay too much info on that new computer

Did you get a new computer during the holidays? That’s neat. There’s nothing quite as enjoyable as a fresh computer because they’re nice and fast.

Well, eventually you’ll do something stupid like opening the wrong link, filling out a shady form, or installing what you thought was a legit update. The computer takes a dive, your personal information is out there, and now you’re stuck running the loops trying to make sure someone’s not using your credit card.

Here’s a tip: Invest in proven internet security software. It’ll cost you upfront, but if it means your privacy is protected and your computer keeps up in speed (from preventing you from doing silly stuff) then it’s well worth it, right?

4. Set yourself up for an accident

1 in 3 smartphone owners use their device while driving – as covered by Cnet.

We all do it and we all know it’s bad. Using a phone while driving is distracting enough but when you start focusing in and using instant messengers and other apps it’s setting you up for an accident.

Police and highway patrol are now checking your phone usage if you do get in an accident – there’s no way to get out of that ticket if it says you were too busy to stay focused on the road.

Here’s a tip: Use the phone for GPS when you’re driving but otherwise keep it out of reach. Don’t mess with it. Don’t endanger your life just to write ‘LOL’ back to a friend nor endangering everyone else on the road because you wanted to watch a Vine video.

5. Alienate others when glued to the screen during meals

You and your buddies finally got something together and you’re all out having some wings and beer – great! After the first few minutes, one by one, everyone gravitates to their phone and it’s now just a bunch of dudes sitting around saying nothing.

What’s the point of that? Yeah, you won’t always have a lot to talk about, consistently, but watch those YouTube videos later. Talk with the people around you.

Here’s a tip: Keep the phone off during those get-togethers. Things can wait – you used to not get constant updates every minute before, so you’ll be okay. Enjoy what you’re doing in the moment because it only gets harder to spend time with friends when you get older.