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> I went with building an isolated network, but I think that's outside the relm of what most consumers can do. A bit off topic, but can we please stop calling

> I went with building an isolated network, but I think that's outside the relm of what most consumers can do. A bit off topic, but can we please stop calling people "consumers"? It's such a weird and patronising term, not to mention completely unnecessary when "people" does a better job.

tomcam 4y ago
I would wager most of us consumers don’t care
NavinF 4y ago
It's an accurate term. "Consumer" as opposed to prosumer, enthusiast, and professional.
x-complexity 4y ago
> can we please stop calling people "consumers"? It's such a weird and patronising term, not to mention completely unnecessary when "people" does a better job. "Consumer" IS the technically more accurate term, as outside of the consumption of tech/services as designed for them, they do not venture beyond that realm & try to understand how the tech works. Similar analogies include: - Not caring about how a car works internally, & leaving its repair & maintenance to a mechanic. - Not caring about how their dishes were made, & leaving that to cooks/chefs. - Not caring about the minutiae of the law, & leaving that to the legal system & its lawyers & judges. - Not caring about sewer maintenance, & leaving that for sewage workers. - Not caring about recyclables processing, & leaving that for recycling plants. - Not caring about Y, and leaving that for (workers/entities that work with Y). All of us are consumers in some form or another: We require the services of others that require the services of others that require the services of others ad infinitum.
Out_of_Characte 4y ago
I think consumer/customer is the right term in this situation. Even though I could build an isolated network with ethernet cables and security camera's, we're usually left with the other people, myself included, that wouldn't always be able to do research and come up with the best solution. That's why I want to outsource that by purchasing something. Which is why we're left with this freemarket of vulnerable devices and practises. People setting up security camera's usually do a good job. Consumers do not.
mafuy 4y ago
I'll go ahead and say I mostly agree. I don't like being called some kind of sink, evaporator, diminisher or resource-terminator. Though granted, in English, these connotations are not as prevalent as in my language. In my language, employers are routinely called "work-givers", employees are "work-takers", even though we have a perfectly fine "employee" term. I hate how it introduces a power relationship into the terms themselves. But I also know it's a lost fight. I once specifically used the neutral term for employee in a work contract I wrote - which was best practice just a few decades ago. It was immediately changed.

tomcam 4y ago

I would wager most of us consumers don’t care

NavinF 4y ago

It's an accurate term. "Consumer" as opposed to prosumer, enthusiast, and professional.

x-complexity 4y ago

> can we please stop calling people "consumers"? It's such a weird and patronising term, not to mention completely unnecessary when "people" does a better job. "Consumer" IS the technically more accurate term, as outside of the consumption of tech/services as designed for them, they do not venture beyond that realm & try to understand how the tech works. Similar analogies include: - Not caring about how a car works internally, & leaving its repair & maintenance to a mechanic. - Not caring about how their dishes were made, & leaving that to cooks/chefs. - Not caring about the minutiae of the law, & leaving that to the legal system & its lawyers & judges. - Not caring about sewer maintenance, & leaving that for sewage workers. - Not caring about recyclables processing, & leaving that for recycling plants. - Not caring about Y, and leaving that for (workers/entities that work with Y). All of us are consumers in some form or another: We require the services of others that require the services of others that require the services of others ad infinitum.

Out_of_Characte 4y ago

I think consumer/customer is the right term in this situation. Even though I could build an isolated network with ethernet cables and security camera's, we're usually left with the other people, myself included, that wouldn't always be able to do research and come up with the best solution. That's why I want to outsource that by purchasing something. Which is why we're left with this freemarket of vulnerable devices and practises. People setting up security camera's usually do a good job. Consumers do not.

mafuy 4y ago

I'll go ahead and say I mostly agree. I don't like being called some kind of sink, evaporator, diminisher or resource-terminator. Though granted, in English, these connotations are not as prevalent as in my language. In my language, employers are routinely called "work-givers", employees are "work-takers", even though we have a perfectly fine "employee" term. I hate how it introduces a power relationship into the terms themselves. But I also know it's a lost fight. I once specifically used the neutral term for employee in a work contract I wrote - which was best practice just a few decades ago. It was immediately changed.