5 ms·

This is rather offtopic but it bothers me how most people in IT seem to use 'transparent' to mean 'opaque'. When I hear PMs say "this change will be completely

This is rather offtopic but it bothers me how most people in IT seem to use 'transparent' to mean 'opaque'. When I hear PMs say "this change will be completely transparent to clients" what they mean is, the client will see no difference, which means really, the details are hidden in a black - opaque - box.

mehrdadn 8y ago
It should make sense if you realize "transparent" means "no visible difference".
- jasonbarrah 8y ago
  Transparent has a unique meaning in the context of computing And a different one in design, business and physics. Importantly however; Tech people can claim they are being 'transparent'. To them this can mean no visible difference to the user- and to everyone else means visible/public and available for scrutiny. So yes, I am sure Zuckerberg is focused on 'transparency'.
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    Quite so. A less intentionally disingenuous word for the computing context would be "hidden".
Stratoscope 8y ago
Personally I could care less. There are literally billions of words that sometimes mean their own opposite.
- nmca 8y ago
  Unclear whether this was an ingenious comment that points out the daft American multi-word expression "I could care less" also means it's own opposite. But, I'ma guess probably not.
  - gdy 8y ago
    You could look at "literally billions" and try guessing one more time.
gdy 8y ago
And the glass on your mobile phone is opaque too? Because it is definitely hidden from you if you cannot see it. But don't despair - all isn't lost! You can fix it with sandpaper, after that you'll be able to see the glass and it will become transparent. Please don't sue me if you don't like the result, however.
k__ 8y ago
I don't understand. Doesn't transparent mean that the interface stays the same and clients can interact with the system in the same way as before without the need to change their code?

mehrdadn 8y ago

It should make sense if you realize "transparent" means "no visible difference".

jasonbarrah 8y ago
Transparent has a unique meaning in the context of computing And a different one in design, business and physics. Importantly however; Tech people can claim they are being 'transparent'. To them this can mean no visible difference to the user- and to everyone else means visible/public and available for scrutiny. So yes, I am sure Zuckerberg is focused on 'transparency'.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  Quite so. A less intentionally disingenuous word for the computing context would be "hidden".

Stratoscope 8y ago

Personally I could care less. There are literally billions of words that sometimes mean their own opposite.

nmca 8y ago
Unclear whether this was an ingenious comment that points out the daft American multi-word expression "I could care less" also means it's own opposite. But, I'ma guess probably not.
- gdy 8y ago
  You could look at "literally billions" and try guessing one more time.

gdy 8y ago

And the glass on your mobile phone is opaque too? Because it is definitely hidden from you if you cannot see it. But don't despair - all isn't lost! You can fix it with sandpaper, after that you'll be able to see the glass and it will become transparent. Please don't sue me if you don't like the result, however.

k__ 8y ago

I don't understand. Doesn't transparent mean that the interface stays the same and clients can interact with the system in the same way as before without the need to change their code?