In the movies, technology is often depicted as a deus ex machina, a convenience for the writer to instantly solve a problem. It’s common for writers to stretch the truth a little bit, in order to facilitate flow or continuity, but with technology, writers can sometimes imbue nearly magical qualities. Rightly so, as Arthur C. Clarke stated, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic“.
And sometimes, the writers just plain get it wrong.
Worse, sometimes, the incorrect depiction is MORE appealing than the real-world functionalities and capabilities, leading to the creation of a mythology that gets propagated until the myth itself is part of pop-culture folklore.
Here are some examples of movie tech myths run amok.