Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
Where did LASER come from? Compact Disc? MP3? Linux? ....  |
I know that it is a retorical question-- but two of the terms (LASER, MP3) were technical ones used for describing a process and a file format that were never originally anticipated to be household items or household words (MP3 was meant for consumers, but only as an audio layer in MPEG files, not as a separate file format.) Linux is of course a play on the os Unix and Linus Torvalds. None of those were attempts to arbitrarily rename a preexisting bit of tech.
"Compact Disc" comes the closest to being a correct analogy for this thread-- it is a simple, plain-English descriptive term that anyone can quickly grasp and remember-- a "Compact Disc" is a round platter like a record, but really small-- it is a "disc" that is "compact". To get the analogy exactly correct, there would have to be a group of people who, concerned that there would be too much confusion when people said "Compact Disc" as to whether they were talking about the disc itself or the device that plays it, several years after they entered the market started wanting people to call Compact Disc players "ezlakoplobs"-- just to avoid the confusion. Then, rather than having to go through the trouble of saying "Compact Disc" and "Compact Disc player" they could say "compact disc" and "ezlakoplob", making everything simple, clear, and non-confusing.