3 ms·
I feel like we've reached the all too common HN cliche of having to address that words have multiple meanings and those meanings change over time. "solid-state"
by enragedcacti 3y ago
I feel like we've reached the all too common HN cliche of having to address that words have multiple meanings and those meanings change over time. "solid-state" only means "semiconductors" because solid semiconductors replaced gaseous state devices.
If we operate by that definition these devices are very much solid so perhaps from context we can choose infer that they mean "non-mechanical" and not "made of semiconductors" rather than getting wrapped up in pedantry.
> And further, no one calls, Crystal resonators “solid state” for marketing purposes, which is all that’s going on here.
Yeah, a company is trying to communicate the benefits of their product using words that convey them i.e. HDD->SSD, fan->AirJet. We can shake our fists at the sky in righteous anger or we can acknowledge that there isn't really any harm to using the terms that evoke the right meaning for most people in a new context.
- SV_BubbleTime 3y agoIt’s not pedantry to call things what they are. A crystal and this cooler - have moving parts. And don’t fit even a laissez-faire definition.
- CyberDildonics 3y agoI'm with you, technically all heat is vibration of atoms so nothing is really solid state.
- enragedcacti 3y agoso does a MEMS if that's the definition were going with.
- pengaru 3y ago> I feel like we've reached the all too common HN cliche of having to address that words have multiple meanings and those meanings change over time It's not even an HN-specific thing. Arguing semantics is a time-honored method for derailing discussions. A sort of quasi-bikeshedding, except more often done in bad faith for creating a winnable meta-argument by someone who otherwise has nothing useful to say about (or was losing a debate of) the actual underlying subject.