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not to make our users think like machines. If differentiating between "file" and "File" is thinking like a machine, how isn't differentiating between "my files

not to make our users think like machines. If differentiating between "file" and "File" is thinking like a machine, how isn't differentiating between "my files" and "myfiles" thinking like a machine? Should "my files" and "myfiles" be collapsed to mean the same thing? What about "files"?

ominous 12y ago
or "tus ficheros"
archagon 12y ago
An "f" is not a different character from an "F". To most people, it's the same letter with special formatting applied. They don't see it and think, "Oh, that's ASCII character 102." An F is an f, no matter how you type it. On the other hand, "myfiles" and "my files" have different numbers of characters. They sound different in your head, and you can easily point to the difference. It's the same as typing "alien" versus "a lien".
- userbinator 12y ago
  A Ford is a very different thing from a ford. You can drive the former through the latter. If "most people" cannot tell the difference, then I believe that would be a failing of the education system.
msbarnett 12y ago
> If differentiating between "file" and "File" is thinking like a machine, how isn't differentiating between "my files" and "myfiles" thinking like a machine? Spaces are lexically significant in the English language because they indicate the breaks between words. "My files" are two English words that convey meaning to English speakers; "myfiles" is not a word at all and is meaningful only if we charitably insert the spacing necessary to make them meaningful. Capitalization does not impact meaning to English speakers in the same manner; "my files" and "My files" are understood to mean the same thing. Capitalization is in this case merely an artifact of sentence positioning and the like. It's orthographic convention and nothing more. Thus, to make the user have to understand that what is a meaningless distinction in English is a meaningful distinction to the user is, by definition, forcing the user to think like a machine.

ominous 12y ago

or "tus ficheros"

archagon 12y ago

An "f" is not a different character from an "F". To most people, it's the same letter with special formatting applied. They don't see it and think, "Oh, that's ASCII character 102." An F is an f, no matter how you type it. On the other hand, "myfiles" and "my files" have different numbers of characters. They sound different in your head, and you can easily point to the difference. It's the same as typing "alien" versus "a lien".

userbinator 12y ago
A Ford is a very different thing from a ford. You can drive the former through the latter. If "most people" cannot tell the difference, then I believe that would be a failing of the education system.

msbarnett 12y ago

> If differentiating between "file" and "File" is thinking like a machine, how isn't differentiating between "my files" and "myfiles" thinking like a machine? Spaces are lexically significant in the English language because they indicate the breaks between words. "My files" are two English words that convey meaning to English speakers; "myfiles" is not a word at all and is meaningful only if we charitably insert the spacing necessary to make them meaningful. Capitalization does not impact meaning to English speakers in the same manner; "my files" and "My files" are understood to mean the same thing. Capitalization is in this case merely an artifact of sentence positioning and the like. It's orthographic convention and nothing more. Thus, to make the user have to understand that what is a meaningless distinction in English is a meaningful distinction to the user is, by definition, forcing the user to think like a machine.