Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as being pedantic :) I really do think the distinction is important. It's a foundational element of the language that ties s

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as being pedantic :) I really do think the distinction is important. It's a foundational element of the language that ties software and hardware together. It's the reason we have things like the OSI model. A couple of years ago I had a temporary run in telecom, working with a company on a nation wide VoIP roll out. This was the first project where I was working on technologies that were completely outside the realm of your typical web application. I was surprised to find so many similarities. SIP, for example, looks a lot like HTTP. The distinction between messaging and media gave me new insights in to web programming. As I learned more and more about telephony, it became obvious that the common language between web and telecom technologies was the separation of layers in the various protocols that make up each stack. Knowing, and respecting, the language that is used to communicate these concepts helped me transition quickly between technologies. Because of that, I try to make an effort to share this knowledge with others. My intent is to inspire, not to chastise :) I didn't do a very good job of that in my original comment.