Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
After being introduced to Dan Bloom's attempts to create a new word to denote "reading on a screen," ie, "screeding" or whatever word may be devised, I find myself wondering if everyone isn't over-thinking this whole naming thing.
Sure, maybe using "e-reader" for a device is tough because it gets confused with the "e-reader" format... maybe "device" or "e-book hardware" doesn't roll off the tongue the way "Kindle" or "liseuse" does. We haven't even come to a consensus over the spelling of "e-book" vs "ebook."
Maybe Stephen, a self-styled "pop-culture columnist," is too much of a poet, that he himself doesn't fully comprehend the utility of a reading device... hence, "transbook," a name that's actually more clumsy and ultimately inaccurate than "e-reader." E-book readers don't "transcend a book"; they collect and organize libraries. They are personal libraries. Name that.
But are the problems and issues that hover over this new industry going to be solved with a clever word or catch-phrase? If it were that simple, then between "Kindle" and "iPhone," I'd say we'd already be a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Give the naming exercises a rest, and concentrate on creating a healthy industry. The names will come on their own.
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Good points and I see the logic...nobody will dictate the name for the devices but would offer that eventually a name will come from some innocent or intentional moniker in an article or whatever...and this term in the OP's post could easily fit that logic...to be dismissive is as counter productive as it might be to insist on it's use...acceptance is the first step.
