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Stop calling everything a robot while you are at it. Once marketing folk get their paws on terms they can lose or expand their meaning. It's just the way it i

Stop calling everything a robot while you are at it. Once marketing folk get their paws on terms they can lose or expand their meaning. It's just the way it is.

m00x 4y ago
That's probably because the definition of `robot` is different in almost every dictionary. Cambridge defines it as: a machine controlled by a computer that is used to perform jobs automatically Others say it has to look human to be considered a robot.
- Spivak 4y ago
  This is a misunderstanding of what dictionaries are for. They’re not authoritative sources of what words mean, they’re a record of all the different ways a word has been used. If people use the term robot to refer to assembly like machines then as far as the dictionary is concerned those are robots now. Someone who comes across a text and doesn’t know what the author is saying when they talk about robots used in manufacturing should be able to find that usage in a dictionary. And there’s no reason these two terms can’t coexist happily enough as robot (manufacturing) and robot (automaton).
  - m00x 4y ago
    > This is a misunderstanding of what dictionaries are for. They’re not authoritative sources of what words mean, they’re a record of all the different ways a word has been used. Source?
    - Spivak 4y ago
      "dictionary, n. and adj." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2022. Web. 20 January 2023.
      - m00x 4y ago
        So you're using a dictionary as an authoritative source to prove the point that dictionaries aren't the authoritative source of what words mean?
        Spivak 4y ago
        Oh you weren’t joking, I was going along with what I thought was a bit.
exodust 4y ago
"Drone" is another one that angered many at first. Articles were written, angry comments posted. "It's not a drone!". But the horse bolted and now everyone calls them drones, including the manufacturers of consumer quadcopters. The name "quadcopter" is so clunky it had no chance against the zippy, effortless "drone".

Stop calling everything a robot while you are at it. Once marketing folk get their paws on terms they can lose or expand their meaning. It's just the way it is.

m00x 4y ago

That's probably because the definition of `robot` is different in almost every dictionary. Cambridge defines it as: a machine controlled by a computer that is used to perform jobs automatically Others say it has to look human to be considered a robot.

Spivak 4y ago
This is a misunderstanding of what dictionaries are for. They’re not authoritative sources of what words mean, they’re a record of all the different ways a word has been used. If people use the term robot to refer to assembly like machines then as far as the dictionary is concerned those are robots now. Someone who comes across a text and doesn’t know what the author is saying when they talk about robots used in manufacturing should be able to find that usage in a dictionary. And there’s no reason these two terms can’t coexist happily enough as robot (manufacturing) and robot (automaton).
- m00x 4y ago
  > This is a misunderstanding of what dictionaries are for. They’re not authoritative sources of what words mean, they’re a record of all the different ways a word has been used. Source?
  - Spivak 4y ago
    "dictionary, n. and adj." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2022. Web. 20 January 2023.
    - m00x 4y ago
      So you're using a dictionary as an authoritative source to prove the point that dictionaries aren't the authoritative source of what words mean?
      - Spivak 4y ago
        Oh you weren’t joking, I was going along with what I thought was a bit.

exodust 4y ago

"Drone" is another one that angered many at first. Articles were written, angry comments posted. "It's not a drone!". But the horse bolted and now everyone calls them drones, including the manufacturers of consumer quadcopters. The name "quadcopter" is so clunky it had no chance against the zippy, effortless "drone".