Everyone knows how bad smoking is for your health, but millions still light up anyway, it is one of the hardest habits to kick. But did you realize how bad it is for your computer’s health if you smoke around it?
Almost all office and business environments have banned indoor smoking so your work PC is safe, but for those who do smoke lighting up while reading e mails or surfing the internet is a regular occurrence. You are potentially damaging your precious PC every time you do so.
There are the obvious and visible signs of damage. Nictotine and cigarette smoke quickly cause a nasty brown film of dirt and dust to coat your monitor. It does not matter how big your screen is or how many dpi you have, if a layer of goo is a constant presence then you are hardly going to get a great view. In fact that stuff builds up on your keyboard, mouse, housing all over.
What the smoke does to the inside of your PC is another nightmare. Smoke rises and joins the dust in the air, making it even denser. In the course of its usual function a computer runs fans to keep it cool and it draws in air from the ambient environment to achieve that.
Dust that does not contain cigarette smoke can cause a lot of damage to a computer, coating its innards with an insulating blanket that causes essential components to overheat or short circuit. Add cigarette smoke to the mix and the situation inside your PC gets worse. That brown gunk that you cleaned off your screen? It will cling to the inner components of your machine and will eventually become almost impossible for even a trained professional to remove.
Computers hate dust, it is the number one cause of PC hardware failure. The good PC parent will make an effort to keep the dust from entering in the first place. This is not too hard to do. You can purchase a self stick filter material that can be placed over the computers air intakes to trap the dust before it enters. These filters cost under $5 per machine and last 3-6 months.
Many of us would be lost without our computers, even at home. I mean really, does anyone use the Yellow Pages to look up a phone number anymore? And who needs driving maps when you have Google Maps or Mapquest? Be nice to your PC. Buy it a dust filter and don’t smoke around it, ever. It should reward you with years of entertainment, information and fun.
