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At first I thought this was about Mac OS around the 9 and 10 times... but I suppose not everyone is going to make that link with this name.

mathgeek 4y ago
You’re certainly not the only one. It’s a confusing choice of naming.
- cflewis 4y ago
  I think the statute of limitations on “confusing name” when Mac OS Carbon was removed from OS X 10 years ago has passed.
  - morelisp 4y ago
    Carbon was removed two years ago.
    - astrange 4y ago
      Well, the API was. There's still bits of it internally driving the menu and event systems, and a lot of app/icon/Finder behaviors.
  - oneplane 4y ago
    Since those old operating systems are now vintage or retro, there have been a few people porting things like Rust, Go and Swift to older Mac OS versions (the ones that use the Toolbox ROM) which was also in the news here. There is of course no 'registry of allowed names that have aged-out' but there are probably other creative names one could come up with.
  - olliej 4y ago
    Yeah, I was confused by the name carbon, but am able to recognize that what I think of by default is not relevant anymore.
- Someone 4y ago
  I hope they picked that name for the same reason Apple picked it: because all life is built on carbon.
  - oneplane 4y ago
    Or because Carbon as an element is "C" and "C" is also the language the framework was built for.
    - Maursault 4y ago
      Well, Apple was a little clever with Carbon for this reason, because it was a C based API. I'm not sure how you get Carbon from C++.
      - tambourine_man 4y ago
        Also, the UI was called Aqua. So Aqua + Carbon is an interesting metaphor for an OS ecosystem.
      - schoen 4y ago
        Apparently, although it's not likely to occur under most conditions, you can form a monatomic carbon C²⁺ ion by shooting a laser into very high-temperature carbon: https://sciencetrends.com/the-charge-of-a-carbon-ion/ https://sciencetrends.com/the-charge-of-a-carbon-ion/ https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4966987 https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4966987 "Up to C⁴⁺ ions are observed." And I guess you could also write the C²⁺ ion as "C⁺⁺" if you wanted. :-)
        Dylan16807 4y ago
        That just makes the comparison worse, if it's difficult and unstable and almost immediately sheds the +s.
rgovostes 4y ago
Apple's Cocoa framework itself reused the name of a 90's visual programming language for kids developed by its own Advanced Technology Group. It was certainly a play on "java for kids." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecast_Creator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecast_Creator
- lioeters 4y ago
  That's the first time I heard of Cocoa as "Java for kids". How cute!
sedatk 4y ago
I mean, it's at least a bit less ambiguous than Go.
hinkley 4y ago
I got as far as “surely they can’t be talking about OS 9, someone must have recycled the name”

mathgeek 4y ago

You’re certainly not the only one. It’s a confusing choice of naming.

cflewis 4y ago
I think the statute of limitations on “confusing name” when Mac OS Carbon was removed from OS X 10 years ago has passed.
- morelisp 4y ago
  Carbon was removed two years ago.
  - astrange 4y ago
    Well, the API was. There's still bits of it internally driving the menu and event systems, and a lot of app/icon/Finder behaviors.
- oneplane 4y ago
  Since those old operating systems are now vintage or retro, there have been a few people porting things like Rust, Go and Swift to older Mac OS versions (the ones that use the Toolbox ROM) which was also in the news here. There is of course no 'registry of allowed names that have aged-out' but there are probably other creative names one could come up with.
- olliej 4y ago
  Yeah, I was confused by the name carbon, but am able to recognize that what I think of by default is not relevant anymore.
Someone 4y ago
I hope they picked that name for the same reason Apple picked it: because all life is built on carbon.
- oneplane 4y ago
  Or because Carbon as an element is "C" and "C" is also the language the framework was built for.
  - Maursault 4y ago
    Well, Apple was a little clever with Carbon for this reason, because it was a C based API. I'm not sure how you get Carbon from C++.
    - tambourine_man 4y ago
      Also, the UI was called Aqua. So Aqua + Carbon is an interesting metaphor for an OS ecosystem.
    - schoen 4y ago
      Apparently, although it's not likely to occur under most conditions, you can form a monatomic carbon C²⁺ ion by shooting a laser into very high-temperature carbon: https://sciencetrends.com/the-charge-of-a-carbon-ion/ https://sciencetrends.com/the-charge-of-a-carbon-ion/ https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4966987 https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4966987 "Up to C⁴⁺ ions are observed." And I guess you could also write the C²⁺ ion as "C⁺⁺" if you wanted. :-)
      - Dylan16807 4y ago
        That just makes the comparison worse, if it's difficult and unstable and almost immediately sheds the +s.

rgovostes 4y ago

Apple's Cocoa framework itself reused the name of a 90's visual programming language for kids developed by its own Advanced Technology Group. It was certainly a play on "java for kids." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecast_Creator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecast_Creator

lioeters 4y ago
That's the first time I heard of Cocoa as "Java for kids". How cute!

sedatk 4y ago

I mean, it's at least a bit less ambiguous than Go.

hinkley 4y ago

I got as far as “surely they can’t be talking about OS 9, someone must have recycled the name”