Tech anachronisms

[Charlie Bonesx]

I’ll bite.
Macintosh is a popular variety of apple (the fruit) in the US.
(I think it’s one of those huge red Disney-type apples).

is it really popular though?

McIntosh Apple Review - Apple Rankings by The Appleist Brian Frange

Review of the National Apple of Canada and eponymous computer apple, the McIntosh, a tangy yet sub-par apple with unbearably thick skin.

applerankings.com

 

[Happy_John]

SSDs are neither "disks" nor "drives". ( they're not circular nor do they have any drive mechanism).

 

[Happy_John]

When was the last time you had a discussion on modems, compared to that back in the 80s and 90s?

Yes the component name lives on, cable modem, etc but overall in the vernacular it is not, so imo, my point stands, it largely is not used.

Wierdly, I was having a conversation about fiber modems early today.

But yes, outside of technical discussions, people only talk about "routers", for combined "modem + router" boxes.

 

[Harddrive]

We have gone from dial-up to fiber with wireless speeds approaching 2400mbps not to mention bluetooth reaching across the room nice time for tech.

 

[PsykX]

The smartphone is actually an entire computer in your pocket.

 

[Happy_John]

The smartphone is actually an entire computer in your pocket.

My smartphone is a computer which I don't really use as a phone. I use my watch as my phone, and sometimes I dial phone numbers on my watch, not my phone, but my watch doesn't have a dial. And when it rings, the ringtone isn't a ring, because there's no bell.

 

[theluggage]

Troll - Large humanoid who goes by Tom, Bert and William.😉

So, since this is a useless info sort of thread, the tech term trolling had more to do with the fishing technique of "trolling" that involves dragging a lure or bait through the water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_%28fishing%29

...back in the era of Usenet and bulletin boards, before all this Web 2.0 malarkey, "trolling" would consist of "trailing a hook" by posting - say - "The Mac is useless, there's no command line and the mouse only has one button!" to comp.sys.apple, or "The special effects are rubbish and its a rip-off of DS9" to alt.fan.babylon5 - just for the fun of provoking a slew of angry responses. That would usually invoking a second wave of posts admonishing the first for wasting bandwidth by "feeding the trolls".

Ah, yes, "trolling" may be a fishing term, but those who indulge in this heinous activity are obviously called trolls & therefore associated with billygoat bothering and rolling rocks at hobbits. Thus are metaphors mixed...

Anyway, trolls/trolling started out as specific to what is now called rage baiting (and still part of the troll's armoury) rather than today's more general application to online bullying or generally being unpleasant.

This thread makes me feel an XKCD reference coming on...

Wrong Superhero

xkcd.com

 

[seek3r]

Pretty much the only thing modern computers do is add zeros and ones. Binary arithmetic. Same as the 1940s computers.

1940s computer were, by and large, actual people, mostly women - and they did a lot more than that

Human Computers: The Early Women of NASA | HISTORY

Their calculations would chart the course of many ground-breaking space missions, yet their stories remain mostly unk...

www.history.com

 

[fatTribble]

It’s an interesting post!

Personally I like the references to how the technology originated.

I still say “roll down the car window” and “dial the phone”.
Actually I still say “ice box” on occasion because my parents would sometimes use the term.

If anyone accuses me of being old I’ll shoo them off my lawn with my stick. 🤭

 

[Abydos]

language persists even if the meaning changes, I'm reminded that tragedy originated from two greek words which meant goat song , it seems theater originated from the worship of Dionysus where men dressed up as goats sang a 'goat song' to honor the god. I've heard roll the tape (for a replay) too many times . live with the clutter, watch it evolve don't worry about it

 

[GrumpyOldGuy52]

The iPod no longer exists

Speak for yourself—my iPod is still going strong (and has 1TB of space).

 

[dmr727]

This is what the upper right hand corner of the desktop on my M4 Air looks like. And I wouldn't have it any other way! 😛

 

[theluggage]

SSDs are neither "disks" nor "drives". ( they're not circular nor do they have any drive mechanism).

…although, until NVMe (and whatever protocol Apple uses for its flash modules) came along, SSD modules went to considerable length to emulate mechanical drives so they could act as drop-in replacements for SATA hard drives.

Plus, “Non-volatile memory” doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue….

 

[Happy_John]

language persists even if the meaning changes, I'm reminded that tragedy originated from two greek words which meant goat song , it seems theater originated from the worship of Dionysus where men dressed up as goats sang a 'goat song' to honor the god. I've heard roll the tape (for a replay) too many times . live with the clutter, watch it evolve don't worry about it

And “decision” and “crisis” have the same root word, again from Greek. Which makes a lot of sense.

 

[txmike418]

“RTFM”

 

[CooperBox]

There are some interesting comments on this thread, but there is one from the opening post that strikes me as being somewhat crazy, namely:
"Mouse: Considering most are now wireless, should we just call them "pointing devices"?
Even without a 'tail' why change a name that from the mid 60's has been universally recognised and accepted.
In a similarly crazy 'politically correct' (CP) vein, for those who propose such a change, would you also also during a visit to a doctor or hospital with a bad cut to a finger announce, "I need urgent treatment to one of my pointing devices?😳
Other CP words that make me shake my head in disbelief are, 'Ethically disorientated' for Dishonest; 'Behaviourally challenged' for Criminal. And the list gets weirder & weirder.
If I ever referred to my wife as a 'Domestic engineer' instead of 'Housewife', she would be convinced that I was 'Chemically inconvenienced' and 'Reality challenged', sorry..........Drunk and Insane. 🤪 (You see you've got me at it too....)
I liked the statement from Scepticalscribe who posts, "In any case, language evolves naturally, without the need for contrived acts of creation of substitutes".
Fwiw, on my many overseas postings especially in Europe, I've been amused and even myself often referred to the computer mouse by it's local name:
Souris (France) // Maus (Germany) // Topo (Italy) Mus (Denmark) // Muis (Holland), and - my all-time favourite - Raton (Spain).

 

[theluggage]

“RTFM”

Yes, I think "RTFM (Read the Fine Manual)" has now been totally superseded by "FAFO (Fiddle Around and Find Out)".

 

[theluggage]

Even without a 'tail' why change a name that from the mid 60's has been universally recognised and accepted.

Those who experience a low-serenity reaction to a flippant suggestion may be the victims of irony deprivation, so I propose that future renaming proposals should be preceded by a trigger warning for the whimsically disadvantaged.

 

[boppin]

Some people here don't seem to have grasped the meaning of certain terms—at least, that’s my impression. Besides, IT terminology is largely borrowed from nautical language anyway—terms like "save" and "delete," for instance.

 

[WebHead]

Is OpenAI now a misnomer as it is no longer an "open" not-for-profit?

 

[Ruggy]

What are some of the outdated terms still being used in the tech world? I'll start...

YouTube: Assuming this was named after "the tube", it's curious because CRTs were already on the way out when it debuted, and I doubt any Gen Z would know what "the tube" even is

Podcast: The iPod no longer exists - nor do most other dedicated media players - but episodic content is still called a podcast

Smartphone: Today's devices are so far past a simple "phone" it's a huge misnomer. Communicator, anyone?

Modem: Correct me if I'm wrong here, but in this modern age of pure digital communications, is there no longer a need for modulation/demodulation?

Mouse: Considering most are now wireless, should we just call them "pointing devices"?

Dashboard: This has morphed twice, from the protective plank on a horse and cart to the front shelf of a vehicle, to the technical readout on a computer

Anything "micro", "soft" or the names of fruit: These company and product names are relics of the '80s

Anything “Insta” or “gram”: Again, they have meaning for those of a certain age, but not the younger generations

I can't remember the last time I used a mouse. Probably 8 years.

 

[Ruggy]

Is OpenAI now a misnomer as it is no longer an "open" not-for-profit?

I think the term 'intelligence' is also a misnomer. However much money they pour into it, at the moment it's a talking dictionary that doesn't understand anything it's saying.

 

[Ruggy]

I think this is a real problem in the modern world and our Gen X/Boomer prejudices risk alienating Gen Z and beyond from technology.

I have therefore taken it upon myself to propose the following modern replacements for obsolete 20th Century icons:


View attachment 2644814

Please don't give Apple any ideas. It's bad enough having to choose between pastel green blobs as it is.

 

[theluggage]

I think the term 'intelligence' is also a misnomer.

As is "Artificial" given that any intelligence found in AI slop comes from doing math on word/phrase associations found in a huge database of human writing (watch how quickly the wheels will come off if that database gets contaminated with too much AI slop).