Retronym: computer website

[W Brewer]

BB:  <<> I don't think that's the case at all. Many PC users also make the
distinction.>>
WB:  We acknowledge a spectrum of usages; to do otherwise would be
prescriptivism, akin to profiling. But since we're pontificating, I shall
declaim that most Wintel folks are oblivious of Apple and its miniscule
market share. In sum, get your heads out of the sand and come up with a catchy
alternative to generic <PC>, or concede defeat in the sands of time.


On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 2:27 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Retronym: computer website
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I haven't done a lot of reading in the space, but I have seen the word
> 'traditional' used to mean a website formatted for PCs, in contrast to
> mobile websites that suit tablets and smartphones.
>
> DanG
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 24, 2013 at 2:04 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com
> >wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Retronym: computer website
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I don't think that's the case at all. Many PC users also make the =
> > distinction.
> >
> > I have no idea what Don and I were discussing, but it seems we agree =
> > that PC can mean Wintel machines only or include Macs.
> >
> > And getting back to the original question, I think "PC website" would be
> =
> > ambiguous.
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett
> > Seattle, WA
> >
> > Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/videos
> >
> > On Jul 23, 2013, at 11:08 PM, W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header =
> > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: Retronym: computer website
> > > =
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > -----
> > >=20
> > > =46rom the Barrett-Goncharoff exchange, it seems that Wintel users =
> > have no
> > > qualms about using <PC> as a generic for a desktop or portable =
> > computer
> > > with traditional keyboard & monitor/screen. But Mac folks get upset at
> =
> > the
> > > extension of <PC> to their products. I predict that <PC> has a good =
> > chance
> > > of becoming a universal generic because:  (1) Wintel proprietors have =
> > never
> > > aggressively resisted the loss of a <<PC>> trademark through serious
> > > litigation (I guess they never took dictionary purveyors to court over
> =
> > the
> > > matter, common adjective & noun after all); (2) Wintel users represent
> =
> > a
> > > global critical mass; (3) Mac/Apple folks have no catchy alternative =
> > to
> > > generic <PC>, hence this thread; indeed, they mostly seem to stick =
> > their
> > > heads in the sand and decry the inevitability of language change. =
> > There's
> > > nobody to sue.
> > > Wikipedia s.v. <<IBM Personal Computer>> (original IBM PC model 5150, =
> > 1981)
> > > Begin quote:
> > > Alongside "microcomputer" and "home computer", the term "personal =
> > computer"
> > > was already in use before 1981. It was used as early as 1972 to
> > > characterize Xerox PARC's Alto. However, because of the success of the
> =
> > IBM
> > > Personal Computer, the term PC came to mean more specifically a
> > > microcomputer compatible with IBM's PC products.
> > > End quote
> > > Also Wikip s.v. <<Influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer =
> > market>>
> >
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> >
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