Concerning terminology. It's a shame that more people don't put in some heavy time considering the roots of language, the meanings of the terms they throw around as if newly minted. There is a wealth of knowledge and power (some would argue they're the same thing) to be found in the constant evolution of language, and a world of strange surprises. In the realm of computers the story is doubly interesting, since so often the terms that seem so new have very old roots. It's a text centered culture, and computers are no exception. Consider the concept of the reboot, a term used only in computers, but anchored in the venerable colloquialism of pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps.
Better yet, consider the term war in naming our dear little electronic matrix. The Matrix is a better term for it, I think, now forever consigned to be associated with a second rate science fiction movie starring a third rate action hero. But it's moot, anyway, since it's down to the Internet and the World Wide Web. My take on it is that Internet is the nominal winner, as it sounds more technical, and for all the attempts to bring it to the people, this is still a very technical media. That's all going to change, so maybe the more happy friendly World Wide Web will win out. But what strikes me as funny is the fact that the base terms of these rival nomenclatures, Web and Net, are not only completely nontechnical but mean exactly the same thing. That's language.
But if I really want a chuckle I always think about the term =scrolling.= This is a nice case, a term who's root concept is so lost in antiquity that the average person will never ponder where the word came from. It has no use outside of the world of electronic display, and yet at it's core is a document form that was basically old technology a thousand years before a computational engine was even conceived.
klik if you demand tedious explanations of every little thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment