4 ms·

You have to be kidding. What you're referring to is a branding tactic. It has nothing to do with some subconscious direction on how to use the device. It's not

by x2f10 8y ago

You have to be kidding. What you're referring to is a branding tactic. It has nothing to do with some subconscious direction on how to use the device. It's not only reasonable, but expected, that customers will use the device in their laps... no matter what the naming convention. Come on.

dpkonofa 8y ago
Not kidding at all. The entire industry made a huge hard stop and turn on the terminology around 2001/2001 after Dell was sued because a man claimed that his "laptop" burned his thighs/penis when the CPU/battery heated up and the fans didn't turn on. The courts ruled that "laptop" implied that the machine was safe to use in that manner and the guy was awarded damages. After that, it became exclusively "notebook" or "portable" computer industry-wide. I haven't really put any thought into it recently but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any manufacturer referring to their machines as "laptops" now. Edit: It was a Dell Latitude that burned the man's penis: http://ftp.compal.com/Download/NB/NCL50/User-Service%20manual/NCL50%20user%27s%20%20manual%200430.pdf http://ftp.compal.com/Download/NB/NCL50/User-Service%20manua...
- x2f10 8y ago
  >I haven't really put any thought into it recently but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any manufacturer referring to their machines as "laptops" now. Oh, really? Let's see. Dell: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/sc/laptops https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/sc/laptops HP: https://store.hp.com/us/en/cat/laptops https://store.hp.com/us/en/cat/laptops ASUS: https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ Lenovo: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/c/LAPTOPS https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/c/LAPTOPS Toshiba: http://laptops.toshiba.com/computers-tablets/home/ http://laptops.toshiba.com/computers-tablets/home/ Acer: https://us-store.acer.com/laptops https://us-store.acer.com/laptops Samsung: https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/windows-laptops/ https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/windows-laptops/ I will stop there, because it's obvious that 'the entire industry' did not make a 'huge hard stop and turn on the terminology'. Stop being a fool.
  - dpkonofa 8y ago
    I'm not being a fool. The lawsuit must have worked out in their favor or they appealed. I worked for 2 separate computer manufacturers during that time where we were explicitly told not to refer to any of the portable computers as "laptop" computers in any of our outgoing communications or marketing. I had associates at other manufacturers that were told the same thing. If that's not the case anymore, then that's just because I haven't bothered to keep up with the industry as I no longer work in comms for PC manufacturers. As I said, I haven't put any thought into it recently. I'm neither being a fool nor am I lying, as you seem to be implying. Times change and I prefaced my statement to admit that the info might be outdated. I can't even believe you put all that effort into collecting those links. That literally does not change the fact that there was an industry-wide aversion to using the term "laptop".

by x2f10 8y ago

dpkonofa 8y ago

Not kidding at all. The entire industry made a huge hard stop and turn on the terminology around 2001/2001 after Dell was sued because a man claimed that his "laptop" burned his thighs/penis when the CPU/battery heated up and the fans didn't turn on. The courts ruled that "laptop" implied that the machine was safe to use in that manner and the guy was awarded damages. After that, it became exclusively "notebook" or "portable" computer industry-wide. I haven't really put any thought into it recently but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any manufacturer referring to their machines as "laptops" now. Edit: It was a Dell Latitude that burned the man's penis: http://ftp.compal.com/Download/NB/NCL50/User-Service%20manual/NCL50%20user%27s%20%20manual%200430.pdf http://ftp.compal.com/Download/NB/NCL50/User-Service%20manua...

x2f10 8y ago
>I haven't really put any thought into it recently but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any manufacturer referring to their machines as "laptops" now. Oh, really? Let's see. Dell: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/sc/laptops https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/sc/laptops HP: https://store.hp.com/us/en/cat/laptops https://store.hp.com/us/en/cat/laptops ASUS: https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ Lenovo: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/c/LAPTOPS https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/c/LAPTOPS Toshiba: http://laptops.toshiba.com/computers-tablets/home/ http://laptops.toshiba.com/computers-tablets/home/ Acer: https://us-store.acer.com/laptops https://us-store.acer.com/laptops Samsung: https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/windows-laptops/ https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/windows-laptops/ I will stop there, because it's obvious that 'the entire industry' did not make a 'huge hard stop and turn on the terminology'. Stop being a fool.
- dpkonofa 8y ago
  I'm not being a fool. The lawsuit must have worked out in their favor or they appealed. I worked for 2 separate computer manufacturers during that time where we were explicitly told not to refer to any of the portable computers as "laptop" computers in any of our outgoing communications or marketing. I had associates at other manufacturers that were told the same thing. If that's not the case anymore, then that's just because I haven't bothered to keep up with the industry as I no longer work in comms for PC manufacturers. As I said, I haven't put any thought into it recently. I'm neither being a fool nor am I lying, as you seem to be implying. Times change and I prefaced my statement to admit that the info might be outdated. I can't even believe you put all that effort into collecting those links. That literally does not change the fact that there was an industry-wide aversion to using the term "laptop".