6 ms·

This was a nicely written article, but missed a few pet peeves. Like how a full generation thinks the blue "e" icon is the internet, that they can close the int

by pestaa 13y ago

This was a nicely written article, but missed a few pet peeves. Like how a full generation thinks the blue "e" icon is the internet, that they can close the internet by closing the browser, etc. Some of them even think Google home page is the internet itself. And don't let me start on how people name files: sent you a Word file, have you received my Excel file?, gotta present you a PowerPoint... Hurts a little inside.

freehunter 13y ago
What's wrong with "sent you a Word file"? I say that all the time. It's a file I created in Word.
- GeneralMayhem 13y ago
  If it's not .doc[x], it's not a Word file. I suspect parent was griping about people who would use "Word file" for anything they can open in Word.
  - levosmetalo 13y ago
    If it has a Word icon in Windows Explorer, then it is a Word file. You can ask ~90% computer users if you don't believe me.
    - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
      >You can ask ~90% computer users if you don't believe me. The point of the article is that there are a lot of common misconceptions made by average people. Also, there is no magic filetype detection that makes the Word icon appear, just a setting which is pretty easy for a novice to bodge-up, incidentally. If you were being sarcastic, I just missed it.
- igravious 13y ago
  I meet you at the mall. I ask you how you got here. You say: A) I drove here. B) I drove here in my car. C) I drove here in my Hyundai Accent. If you say C (or even B) people will look at you funny because you've given them too much information. Why can't people say, "I sent you the spreadsheet" or, "I'm going to show you my presentation", or "Here is the text document"? Why when it comes to computers do otherwise smart people suddenly start spouting gibberish?
  - Dylan16807 13y ago
    Word file is both more specific and shorter than text document. Your analogy is horrible because one way to drive implies only one kind of file. Try "I drove here." "I took a bus here." "I took a taxi here.". And if they have multiple cars it's especially reasonable to say which one they took. I really don't understand why you have this complaint. Do you have some kind of weird overattachment to genetic terms?
  - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
    Bad habit, I agree, but probably due to certain companies' very-effective marketing. For example, in some areas of the country, people used to commonly refer to carbonated beverages as "Coke".
    - groovy2shoes 13y ago
      In some areas of the country, people still commonly refer to carbonated beverages as "Coke".
  - nahname 13y ago
    Let me google that for you. We are just as guilty.
  - freehunter 13y ago
    "I sent you a file". Okay, which one? Can you be more specific? I have four files that you sent. Saying "I sent you a Word file" isn't too much information, it's just the right amount of information. As for saying the brand name, text documents vary far and wide. I wouldn't ask someone to open a docx in Wordpad or Notepad, it'd either be horrible formatting or useless noise. Even opening a docx in OpenOffice could turn out poorly, depending on which features of Word you used in the creation of the document. If someone was asking if they could ride with me, it makes a big difference if I drove here in my Hyundai Accent or if I rode here on my Schwinn.
sdevlin 13y ago
The format of a document is relevant to the recipient. Not every text editor will open a Word document. Also, you probably wouldn't look at someone funny for requesting a kleenex. All the things you mentioned have pretty strong brand-name recognition, such that e.g. even non-PowerPoint slide decks are called PowerPoints.
mdip 13y ago
I totally agree with you on the "e" icon. My parents had received a virus that originated from a web site (seedy in nature) that exploited a vulnerability in IE 6. After having to revisit them twice in a month, I replaced the shortcut with Firefox and Adblock+ (adblock was to prevent explotation of vulnerabilities in Flash Player that were happening with increasing frequency from popular ad networks). It wasn't until last year that I flipped the icon back to Firefox when I installed their new computer. The first week I received two phone calls from my mom asking "Where's the Internet"? The second one concluded with her asking me to put the other picture back "next time I come over" because she liked it better than the red/orange icon.

by pestaa 13y ago

freehunter 13y ago

What's wrong with "sent you a Word file"? I say that all the time. It's a file I created in Word.

GeneralMayhem 13y ago
If it's not .doc[x], it's not a Word file. I suspect parent was griping about people who would use "Word file" for anything they can open in Word.
- levosmetalo 13y ago
  If it has a Word icon in Windows Explorer, then it is a Word file. You can ask ~90% computer users if you don't believe me.
  - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
    >You can ask ~90% computer users if you don't believe me. The point of the article is that there are a lot of common misconceptions made by average people. Also, there is no magic filetype detection that makes the Word icon appear, just a setting which is pretty easy for a novice to bodge-up, incidentally. If you were being sarcastic, I just missed it.
igravious 13y ago
I meet you at the mall. I ask you how you got here. You say: A) I drove here. B) I drove here in my car. C) I drove here in my Hyundai Accent. If you say C (or even B) people will look at you funny because you've given them too much information. Why can't people say, "I sent you the spreadsheet" or, "I'm going to show you my presentation", or "Here is the text document"? Why when it comes to computers do otherwise smart people suddenly start spouting gibberish?
- Dylan16807 13y ago
  Word file is both more specific and shorter than text document. Your analogy is horrible because one way to drive implies only one kind of file. Try "I drove here." "I took a bus here." "I took a taxi here.". And if they have multiple cars it's especially reasonable to say which one they took. I really don't understand why you have this complaint. Do you have some kind of weird overattachment to genetic terms?
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  Bad habit, I agree, but probably due to certain companies' very-effective marketing. For example, in some areas of the country, people used to commonly refer to carbonated beverages as "Coke".
  - groovy2shoes 13y ago
    In some areas of the country, people still commonly refer to carbonated beverages as "Coke".
- nahname 13y ago
  Let me google that for you. We are just as guilty.
- freehunter 13y ago
  "I sent you a file". Okay, which one? Can you be more specific? I have four files that you sent. Saying "I sent you a Word file" isn't too much information, it's just the right amount of information. As for saying the brand name, text documents vary far and wide. I wouldn't ask someone to open a docx in Wordpad or Notepad, it'd either be horrible formatting or useless noise. Even opening a docx in OpenOffice could turn out poorly, depending on which features of Word you used in the creation of the document. If someone was asking if they could ride with me, it makes a big difference if I drove here in my Hyundai Accent or if I rode here on my Schwinn.

sdevlin 13y ago

The format of a document is relevant to the recipient. Not every text editor will open a Word document. Also, you probably wouldn't look at someone funny for requesting a kleenex. All the things you mentioned have pretty strong brand-name recognition, such that e.g. even non-PowerPoint slide decks are called PowerPoints.

mdip 13y ago

I totally agree with you on the "e" icon. My parents had received a virus that originated from a web site (seedy in nature) that exploited a vulnerability in IE 6. After having to revisit them twice in a month, I replaced the shortcut with Firefox and Adblock+ (adblock was to prevent explotation of vulnerabilities in Flash Player that were happening with increasing frequency from popular ad networks). It wasn't until last year that I flipped the icon back to Firefox when I installed their new computer. The first week I received two phone calls from my mom asking "Where's the Internet"? The second one concluded with her asking me to put the other picture back "next time I come over" because she liked it better than the red/orange icon.