Bernie asks: Recently I was told by a Genius that my smoky Mac was “abused”. I was kind of offended. Why did he say that?

Jason answers: Believe it or not cigarette smoke can actually kill your computer!  Studies from several sources show that 80% of data loss on a hard drive (not due to physical failure) is caused by smoke.  Smoke damages the hard drive by getting stuck between the platters and the head.  Smoke can also cause failure to other components in your computer.  Tar build up can damage to sensitive components or corrode electronic parts.  It makes surfaces sticky, which makes dust adhere to them.  When tar from cigarette smoke builds up on a CPU fan, it can prevent the fan from spinning properly making it overheat, and smoke that corrodes the electronic circuits on the motherboard causes the computer to stop working altogether. Smoking around computers will eventually discolor the keyboard, mouse and other exterior surfaces.

So it goes without saying, not only is smoking bad for your health, it is also bad for your computer!

Jason