Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

I’m not trying to be a grammar Nazi or a member of the politically correct police but there are a some tech related terms that are are either improperly used or just simply annoy me. A few may be the result of clever marketing or PR initiatives but many are language twists that have leaked into popular culture. Granted, the argument can be made that, with enough common usage, words can change meaning or take on a seemingly disparate definition, but it doesn’t mean it won’t stop annoying me.

iPod - Not every MP3 player is an iPod, but all iPods ands MP3 players. confuses old people and the technologically unaware. iPod is a trademarked name and product line specific to one company, much like Kleenex or Xerox. This is top on my list primarily because I have to explain the difference to my in-laws about once a week.

PC - A long standing gripe of mine, this abbreviation stands for any “personal computer,” people. Apple’s Macintosh computers are technically PCs. Those Radio Shack Tandys - PCs. What most people refer to as “PCs” are actually IBM clones. So remember, Macs are PCs, too - deal with it.

Podcasting - They’re friggin’ MP3 files that you download. They are not actually broadcast or streamed. You download an MP3 file and play it from an MP3 compatible device at your leisure. Sure, you can use the broader definition of broadcast to imply that it is simply being disseminated but at least scratch the “Pod” portion.

Memory - For some reason, only RAM gets the honor of being called “memory.” Did everyone forget about ROM? (BTW: That “M” stands for “Memory.”) I won’t even get into all the types of RAM and ROM that get neglected.

AOL Instant Messager - Actually, the application is “Instant Messenger” and not every live chat app should be referred by AOL’s product name. “Instant messaging” is a good term that can be used for AIM (eg. AOL’s Instant Messenger instant messaging application), Trillian and any other program that lets you send quick text or audio messages. Even newspapers periodically get this wrong.

Casual Games - As opposed to a Formal Games? Do some wear bow ties and black dresses while others chill in cutoffs and guzzle beer? Unless you are a professional video gamer, every game is casual. If it’s intended to imply that anyone can casually start playing and and then away from the game, that’s even worse. So-called casual games are actually more addictive that many console games. Your grandma might even put in more hours with a match-three game than you do with Halo. In reality, it’s a way to label video games without calling them video games. It makes the people playing them feel less guilty so they can still complain about kids playing other video games.

Demo - This gripe is really with home improvement shows that use “demo” as a short form of “demolish” or “demolition.” It’s been used long enough to mean “demonstration” - for various disks and other media - that it’s a bit silly to try and use it a second way. Heck, maybe I’ll start using it to refer to things that are “demonic,” too: “The demo demo where you demo everything…” wait, I kinda like that.

I’m sure I missed a few, so go ahead and feel free to add to my list.

Site [NetLingo] Site [Urban Dictionary]