On 11-04-15 at 08:56am, Andreas Tille wrote: > On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 08:14:47AM +0200, Adrian von Bidder wrote: > > And what is wrong with just plain "Applications"? I think the whole > > "app store" thing is blown out of proportion by the marketing teams > > of a few companies, we do not need to join he hype on this. +1 > I'm personally against hypes and I do not like commercial marketing > strategies. But this shouldn't make us blind about the fact that it > just works. Refusing to learn strategies which work is not sane. We > are living in one world and if we want to be successful we need to > follow some rules (whether we like them or not). Otherwise we will > not leave the geeky corner. IMHO Ubuntu is doing a proper job in this > field. I agree in general, and very much appreciate this discussion, but... > And regarding evolvement of names: At some point in time the verb "to > google" made its way into dictionaries. So the action to search the > web using a specific search engine is used as a more general word than > it was intended (and even if I do not like it personally - it is > real). So why not using the name "app store" for a large set of > applications where you can cherry pick from? To google" only means "to search the web using one specific service which happens to be very popular". Just as (at least in Denmark) non-geeks since long use the term "Word" to mean "word processor" even though it only means "one specific word processor which happens to be very popular". I have tried fighting it in public schools where teachers are supposed to teach generic skills, not train for a particular environment (which is anyway outdated when the kids finish school). > If people (specifically non-geekish ones) have accepted this word, are > using it and have some immediate imagination what it is - why not > using it? Only because it is used in the proprietary world? Would > you consider stop using English language just because the most > commercial advertising is done in this language (even in non English > speaking countries - and it is perfectly understood there as well)? When my brother and I - back in the dark ages when only geeks had heard of the term "Linux" - tried persuade some public schools to adopt use of Linux, he made an observation: Don't say that it is "similar to Windows" because then they will always treat it as a (cheaper) imitation of "the real thing". Similar is my reasoning that we should not use a term which non-geeks have adopted as meaning "members-only shop for commercial and freeware applications". It does not matter if Debian was here first. As you mention yourself it is very important how our users comprehend the terms: our "store" do not fit the modern use of the term, so embracing it confuses and devaluates more than it helps our users in understanding what we offer them. - Jonas -- * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt * Tlf.: +45 40843136 Website: http://dr.jones.dk/ [x] quote me freely [ ] ask before reusing [ ] keep private
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