Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Adding "App" to Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing

[Kip Warner]

On Thu, 2016-03-03 at 18:01 -0800, Aaron Wolf wrote:
> Sure, my point is that I don't think the associations people have 
> with "App" are any worse than "Website" given that most websites 
> people actually use are crappy, filled with ads, tracking, 
> proprietary JavaScript… I don't think there's any bad *connotation* 
> with the term "App" itself.

You've raised a great example. Imagine you ask a neighbour what
"website" means to them and they explain it reasonably in the general
sense, but implicitly whenever they actually use it they are nearly
always, if not always, referring to Netflix.

Another example, tangential to the previous, but not identical. How
many times do you hear someone saying "Google it", when what they
probably really meant was "use a search engine to find something". 

Google did not need a trademark on the word "Google" to redirect
meaning in the general sense from a search engine to theirs in
particular. The redirection of meaning is subtle, but effective. It's a
significant achievement.

-- 
Kip Warner -- Senior Software Engineer
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http://www.thevertigo.com

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