# Horrible Movie and TV tropes about computers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 6, 2026, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852 "2026-09-06T04:51:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/81 "2026-09-07T18:07:34Z")
Network. You airgap computers from the outside world but they are networked to each other. With one method of getting things onto the server (often cd rom so it can be trackable), with a highest level security person, probably behind a locked door somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/82 "2026-09-07T18:10:39Z")
Could we please get back to TV and movie tropes? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/83 "2026-09-07T18:26:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Regarding hacking a computer via a thumb drive, I saw a [YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFWBatrHbPk) a few months ago that it’s possible to embed malicious hardware in a _USB charging cable_, so you could capture passwords and other data from someone who uses it to charge their smartphone. That’s been known for over a decade. > **[Malware Found in Chinese E-Cigarettes' Charger; Company Exec Infected](https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/malware-found-in-chinese-e-cigarettes-charger-company-exec-infected)** > > It hasn\`t yet been proven that e-cigarettes can cause cancer, but they just might be able to give you malware. > “The made in China e-cigarette had malware hardcoded into the charger, and when plugged into a computer`s USB port the malware phoned home and infected the system.” > **[Mobile Threat Monday: Can E-Cigs Spread Malware via USB?](https://www.pcmag.com/news/mobile-threat-monday-can-e-cigs-spread-malware-via-usb)** > > When talking about mobile threats, we tend to focus on attacks against smartphones and tablets. There is another mobile device that is just as portable and can cause a lot of damage we don't hear much about: USB devices. > German researchers demonstrated at a session during this summer’s Black Hat security conference how they could infect USB devices with hardware-level malware. The malware would modify the firmware, evade traditional security defenses, and launch attacks. Which include impersonating a keyboard to log keystrokes and deleting content of internal storage. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/84 "2026-09-07T18:35:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Could we please get back to TV and movie tropes? Not as egregious as other examples presented but _Jumpin’ Jack Flash_ shows an amber monochrome monitor transform into an EGA display. I can’t find a video of the process, which is triggered by the code key, but here’s a before & after. [![](https://jackphla.sh/images/jumpinjackflash1.png) ](https://jackphla.sh/images/jumpinjackflash1.png) [![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnof5P3mQWxvFUUsF5EvTc-ee2n3uT8P3yiuK76JSdPXiAdngTr6hfO-8qjZG4-MYjyVf5ksmgmooqOezejvigpdmiVe4fckdfS8WEzSgb_fdBDQJxto-eXSnaS2PxosZqjEevFjE0XsW/s400/Screen.jpg) ](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnof5P3mQWxvFUUsF5EvTc-ee2n3uT8P3yiuK76JSdPXiAdngTr6hfO-8qjZG4-MYjyVf5ksmgmooqOezejvigpdmiVe4fckdfS8WEzSgb_fdBDQJxto-eXSnaS2PxosZqjEevFjE0XsW/s400/Screen.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/85 "2026-09-07T18:43:11Z")
Heere, Comr…friend, is free charging cable! ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/86 "2026-09-07T21:11:20Z")
I’m not sure, but In the older movies and TV shows in computer rooms with mainframe computers, I doubt they would have the typical computer room sound that comes from the air cooling units. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/87 "2026-09-08T12:39:44Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Ah, the days of computers with flashing lights and beep-boop-beep sound effects!! A lot of those computers look exactly alike because they often WERE the same computers. Effects houses in Hollywood kept renting them out. If you had banks of rotating tape drives, they were probably Burroughs B205: > **[Starring the Computer - Burroughs B205](https://starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=45)** > > Computers in movies and television shows Lots of blinking lights? IBM AN/FSQ > **[Starring the Computer - IBM AN/FSQ-7](https://starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=73)** > > Computers in movies and television shows AS time has gone by there are lots of other computers that have been pressed into “gee-whiz” service. Here’s a website with more than you probably ever wanted to know: > **[Starring the Computer](https://starringthecomputer.com/features.html)** > > Computers in movies and television shows ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/88 "2026-09-08T14:54:39Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Ah, the days of computers with flashing lights and beep-boop-beep sound effects!! Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CfC0V0ivNCM/maxresdefault.jpg "Airplane II - Blinking, Beeping, And Flashing") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfC0V0ivNCM) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/89 "2026-09-08T20:46:41Z")
I always liked the ex-DoD computer banks in _ **The Time Tunnel** _, Even in the middle of the week’s crisis, Lee Meriwether was able to solve the problem by calmly typing commands on one of the complex’s keyboards. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/90 "2026-09-08T20:57:24Z")
They just saw it as a female secretary doing her job. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/91 "2026-09-08T21:10:44Z")
Those were left over from the Jupiter 2. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/92 "2026-09-09T11:47:13Z")
I’d like to say - that as an ex-analyst programmer, I think the old cliche of the computer expert being a young, single, geek with no social skills, even less fashion sense, who wears enormous thick glasses, and spends all his free time playing obscure computer games and partaking in endless on-line arguments about sci-fi/fantasy realms, all while drinking copious amounts of Diet Coke, is rather outdated and mildly offensive. Some of us don’t even like Diet Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Cachalot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@Cachalot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cachalot)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/93 "2026-09-09T17:40:56Z")
I’d like to add the one where the computer’s display is a holograph in mid-air, which the users then manipulate in order to get the computer to do stuff. Not a keyboard or mouse in sight. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/94 "2026-09-09T18:48:00Z")
This is what I continually scratch my head over…I can get retina-pixel 120 Hz refresh display in my pocket, but if I send a crappy low-rez black and white .pdf form to my printer it sits “spooling” for seconds/minutes in a print queue waiting for…nothing. I guess all of those crates of surplus Speak n Spell CPUs from the 70s have to be repurposed into something. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/95 "2026-09-09T19:40:43Z")
I remember in the early 2000’s a show called **24** , which contained a room full of government agents doing hacky things on computers and talking to Keifer Sutherland in the field. When hacking into other people’s systems, one of the techno jargon sounding phrases they would tell each other was “Try recompiling the header files!” which, for non-programmers, can only be described as “that is not how any of this works”. It is not a thing you do in normal software development, let alone hacking. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/96 "2026-09-09T20:46:16Z")
> [@Cachalot](#): > > I’d like to add the one where the computer’s display is a holograph in mid-air, which the users then manipulate in order to get the computer to do stuff. Not a keyboard or mouse in sight. I mean, if we had the technology to make a display like that, it probably would be a popular interface. And it’s clearly not our tech, appearing only in things like superhero movies and far-future SF. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/97 "2026-09-09T20:54:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The creators of that show thought, "Well, it’s a computer, and since we don’t know jack shit about computers that must mean the audience is even stupider than we are they must know even less than _we_ do. That’s not what they thought. They thought: “_Tron_ made a lot of money. We want some of that action.” That was all they were thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/98 "2026-09-09T21:09:04Z")
Anyone else remember _Billion Dollar Brain_? Plenty of whirling tape reels there. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/99 "2026-09-10T10:06:39Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > “Try recompiling the header files!” which, for non-programmers, can only be described as “that is not how any of this works”. It is not a thing you do in normal software development, let alone hacking. My OH is happy that I’ve long since stopped passing comment on tech jargon in shows and movies, a standard one we now say is “reverse the polarity”, a popular one from Star Trek and Stargate. But mentioned elsewhere recently by me in **Community** : [Cut the hard line to the mainframe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSdosrEc7Wc&t=45s) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852/100 "2026-09-10T11:18:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I mean, if we had the technology to make a display like that, it probably would be a popular interface. Not in an office situation. Imagine if everyone had that! Everyone could see what everyone is doing. “Ah Jim’s surfing the Dope again!” Two smaller, but more real-world based complaints. People, especially in an office setting, that don’t have screen lock. Cops come up and start going through the computer without even a by-your-leave. In Leverage, Parker could rope down, hang upside down and blindly put a drive in a USB port. And get it right on the first try. No way! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-movie-and-tv-tropes-about-computers/1032852.md?page=6)