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I agree that the author should have named what the Windows installation is, i.e., a VM. However I disagree that metaphors aren't useful in teaching people thing

I agree that the author should have named what the Windows installation is, i.e., a VM. However I disagree that metaphors aren't useful in teaching people things, especially about technology. The author knows his audience, and it is not people like you who have deep technical knowledge. The majority of people reading this probably have trouble starting their Windows PCs, much less understanding how a 'Virtual Machine' is any more or less virtual than the machine they're already using. The russian doll metaphor points towards the concepts of separation and encapsulation, which can help the non-technical reader understand what's going on. This isn't a technical manual and shouldn't be held to the standards of one. It's entertainment for people who want to know slightly more about technology -- but not too much or too deeply -- than they did before.

dredmorbius 12y ago
You can use the metaphor. But call the thing what the hell it is, in straightforward language. The problem with this trope is that it makes technology (and science) seem both much more complicated than it is, and, as I've noted, obscures the reality, both in the specific tools used, how they're used, and what they accomplish. Conducting virus and scam investigations from within a fresh VM is hardly news (a co-worker of mine would do this for filing HR and other corporate reports over MSIE-only interfaces, noting that by the end of the 15-20 minute session his VM was already compromised...). And some bright kid reading the story might actually get some ideas as to how she could better protect herself and/or get into this online forensics and investigations thing. And the argument that news reportage has to protect the ignorant from their own ignorance by not accidentally un-ignoranting them is ... tired.
- obstacle1 12y ago
  >And the argument that news reportage has to protect the ignorant from their own ignorance by not accidentally un-ignoranting them is ... tired. I don't think I made that argument. Keeping content simple isn't about protecting anyone from their ignorance, it is writing to serve an audience's wants. People who read publications like Medium generally want bite-size overviews and entertainment. There is a reason the vast majority of people would rather read Scientific American or The Economist instead of picking up an IEEE journal.
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    That piece is anything but bite-sized. SciAm and the Economist are generally worlds ahead of most of the MSM (though they've been flagging in the past decade or two as well).

dredmorbius 12y ago

You can use the metaphor. But call the thing what the hell it is, in straightforward language. The problem with this trope is that it makes technology (and science) seem both much more complicated than it is, and, as I've noted, obscures the reality, both in the specific tools used, how they're used, and what they accomplish. Conducting virus and scam investigations from within a fresh VM is hardly news (a co-worker of mine would do this for filing HR and other corporate reports over MSIE-only interfaces, noting that by the end of the 15-20 minute session his VM was already compromised...). And some bright kid reading the story might actually get some ideas as to how she could better protect herself and/or get into this online forensics and investigations thing. And the argument that news reportage has to protect the ignorant from their own ignorance by not accidentally un-ignoranting them is ... tired.

obstacle1 12y ago
>And the argument that news reportage has to protect the ignorant from their own ignorance by not accidentally un-ignoranting them is ... tired. I don't think I made that argument. Keeping content simple isn't about protecting anyone from their ignorance, it is writing to serve an audience's wants. People who read publications like Medium generally want bite-size overviews and entertainment. There is a reason the vast majority of people would rather read Scientific American or The Economist instead of picking up an IEEE journal.
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  That piece is anything but bite-sized. SciAm and the Economist are generally worlds ahead of most of the MSM (though they've been flagging in the past decade or two as well).