Question: If you drop an optical mouse and a mouse with a ball on the floor, from the same height, which is more likely to break?
Answer: Probably the mouse with the ball. Optical mice can often be dropped many times, and the light continues to work. On the other hand, a mechanical mouse with a little ball can be dropped once, and it may be nonfunctional.
Question: If you drop an external Zip drive and a monitor on the floor, from the same height, which is more likely to break?
Answer: The Zip drive. In many institutions, monitors drop to the floor. People pick them up, put them on the table, and continue working. There is often no damage.
This doesn't happen all the time of course. On the other hand, Zip drives are so delicate and fragile that one bang can destroy them.
Question: If you drop a computer hard drive or a printer cable on the floor, which is more likely to break?
Answer: Tie score. Printer cables break just from hitting other things. Hard drives are also fragile, especially when the computer is powered on.
Question: Which will do more damage - touching the front of a thin screen, or moving a computer box while it is turned on?
Answer: Again, tie score. If you move a computer box that is turned on, you can cause the hard drive to crash. If you touch a thin screen LCD-TFT monitor, you can pop some of the thin film transistors. Either one could cause damage that doesn't pay to repair.
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