Terminal Terminology
Jun. 28th, 2006 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chrystallineI truly hate the word "podcast." Aside from the faulty implication that the iPod is the be-all and end-all of MP3, it calls to mind bad alien invasion movies. Call it a web show, call it a download, or hey, how about "series"? This fascination with giving weird names to things because they've been translated to a new medium drives me crazy. I'm thoroughly annoyed by the prevalence of the appended -cast on everything, I hate the Borg-ish "pod," and I've had about enough of preceding everything with "i" just because it's somehow technological. Really, do we have to let Apple name everything just because they have a good marketing campaign? Is everyone in the Entertainment Industry that intimidated by technology?
For that matter, I'm not terribly fond of the leaden-sounding "blog" to refer to web journals, but it's hard to fight that one without referring to specific journal software or sites (Blogger/Blogspot, WP for WordPress, LJ for LiveJournal, JF for JournalFen, DJ for DeadJournal, etc). I suppose we could refer to them as sites or pages, but that doesn't really distinguish them from static, display-only pages.
I guess it just goes to show that I'm not into fads. I refused to tease my hair into five-inch poofy bangs in junior high, I wouldn't wear hobbling, narrow khaki skirts at college, and I won't call all online MP3 files "podcasts." I may only be one, mostly-unknown holdout, but then, so was Don Quixote.
Comments from TiltedWindmill.com where originally posted:
2006-7-10 @ 2:07:05 pm
Robert
Ok, had to reply to this one.
1. They’re called podcasts because the’re specifically made for the ipod/itunes suite of mp3 tools (if not, they’re just wannabes).
2. We don’t berate Kleenex for usurping the humble tissue’s name, nor Xerox for the copy.
3. Yes, I totally sympathize with your point of view that the whole world is full of lemmings scrambling to run off a cliff.
4. Yes, I can understand your suspicion (sp?) of a technology company which sells itself as a lifestyle company . . . but the whole idea is to “be different” — so what do you do when the strange kid suddenly becomes popular?
5. Apple just works. And now that they’re beating the pants off of everyone else in one market because of this, after years of being the strange cousin that no-one talked about, can’t they gloat a little bit??
6. No, I don’t own an ipod. Too pricey for me. But they are very nice.
7. Talk about lemmings. What about all the other tech companies which have to put a lower-case “i” in front of their products? see compaq’s “ipaq”. Can you say ripoff?. http://www.hp.com/country/us/en/prodserv/handheld.html
*fire extinguisher* I don’t want to start a flame war.
2006-7-14 @ 12:07:49 am
Chrystalline
Well,
1) It’s become a catch-all word for all online video or audio files available for free download, whether they’re one-shots or daily/weekly/monthly series.
2) Kleenex and Xerox do not like becoming synonymous with “tissue” and “copier/copy” because it threatens their trademarks - that’s how aspirin became a lowercase noun;) If the “call everything that plays MP3 an iPod” craze continues, Apple may have to take steps to counter it. I saw an ad in a magazine a few years ago in which Crayola pleaded with readers to stop calling all markers and crayons “Crayola” for just this reason.
3) Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me;)
4&5) That’s interestingly in line with a comment I made on CDLauryl.com about the new BSG being up for an Emmy, although I see the new BSG as being too mainstream for my taste anyway. What alienates me the most, though, is the current Mac ad campaign - I don’t react well to arrogance, and frankly, if I had my druthers, Commodore would come back to life and create a modern machine that *doesn’t* rely on that most annoying of accoutrements, the MOUSE. I didn’t like the old Mac, and now, Windows has managed to catch up to being - tada! - almost just like the Mac. Ah, old rant, there…
6) I have a Pogo RipFlash 128 that I bought a few years ago when I thought I might be able to use it for event video. It’s a voice recorder/line in/MP3 player, and it’s handy, but it wasn’t anywhere near good enough for keeping in a pocket and recording decent audio - not much would be, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot, considering it was on sale and I was looking for “think outside the box” solutions. I think I’d only get an iPod if someone gave it to me for free…
7) See? That’s one of my major pet peeves! You might have missed it; I kinda tucked it in there in the middle of all the other ranting.
Ah, now, disagreement doesn’t have to be firey - it’s disrespect that sparks flamewars;)
For that matter, I'm not terribly fond of the leaden-sounding "blog" to refer to web journals, but it's hard to fight that one without referring to specific journal software or sites (Blogger/Blogspot, WP for WordPress, LJ for LiveJournal, JF for JournalFen, DJ for DeadJournal, etc). I suppose we could refer to them as sites or pages, but that doesn't really distinguish them from static, display-only pages.
I guess it just goes to show that I'm not into fads. I refused to tease my hair into five-inch poofy bangs in junior high, I wouldn't wear hobbling, narrow khaki skirts at college, and I won't call all online MP3 files "podcasts." I may only be one, mostly-unknown holdout, but then, so was Don Quixote.
Comments from TiltedWindmill.com where originally posted:
2006-7-10 @ 2:07:05 pm
Robert
Ok, had to reply to this one.
1. They’re called podcasts because the’re specifically made for the ipod/itunes suite of mp3 tools (if not, they’re just wannabes).
2. We don’t berate Kleenex for usurping the humble tissue’s name, nor Xerox for the copy.
3. Yes, I totally sympathize with your point of view that the whole world is full of lemmings scrambling to run off a cliff.
4. Yes, I can understand your suspicion (sp?) of a technology company which sells itself as a lifestyle company . . . but the whole idea is to “be different” — so what do you do when the strange kid suddenly becomes popular?
5. Apple just works. And now that they’re beating the pants off of everyone else in one market because of this, after years of being the strange cousin that no-one talked about, can’t they gloat a little bit??
6. No, I don’t own an ipod. Too pricey for me. But they are very nice.
7. Talk about lemmings. What about all the other tech companies which have to put a lower-case “i” in front of their products? see compaq’s “ipaq”. Can you say ripoff?. http://www.hp.com/country/us/en/prodserv/handheld.html
*fire extinguisher* I don’t want to start a flame war.
2006-7-14 @ 12:07:49 am
Chrystalline
Well,
1) It’s become a catch-all word for all online video or audio files available for free download, whether they’re one-shots or daily/weekly/monthly series.
2) Kleenex and Xerox do not like becoming synonymous with “tissue” and “copier/copy” because it threatens their trademarks - that’s how aspirin became a lowercase noun;) If the “call everything that plays MP3 an iPod” craze continues, Apple may have to take steps to counter it. I saw an ad in a magazine a few years ago in which Crayola pleaded with readers to stop calling all markers and crayons “Crayola” for just this reason.
3) Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me;)
4&5) That’s interestingly in line with a comment I made on CDLauryl.com about the new BSG being up for an Emmy, although I see the new BSG as being too mainstream for my taste anyway. What alienates me the most, though, is the current Mac ad campaign - I don’t react well to arrogance, and frankly, if I had my druthers, Commodore would come back to life and create a modern machine that *doesn’t* rely on that most annoying of accoutrements, the MOUSE. I didn’t like the old Mac, and now, Windows has managed to catch up to being - tada! - almost just like the Mac. Ah, old rant, there…
6) I have a Pogo RipFlash 128 that I bought a few years ago when I thought I might be able to use it for event video. It’s a voice recorder/line in/MP3 player, and it’s handy, but it wasn’t anywhere near good enough for keeping in a pocket and recording decent audio - not much would be, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot, considering it was on sale and I was looking for “think outside the box” solutions. I think I’d only get an iPod if someone gave it to me for free…
7) See? That’s one of my major pet peeves! You might have missed it; I kinda tucked it in there in the middle of all the other ranting.
Ah, now, disagreement doesn’t have to be firey - it’s disrespect that sparks flamewars;)