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Subject:RE: Hi-tech babble baffles many From:eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 8 Jul 2003 13:10:53 -0400
>>Yet we still run across acronyms, abbreviations, and other terms that
>>people are using daily but that they do not know the meaning of!
>>It's a weird world where people use terms they
>>don't even understand.
I think this thread is supporting a misconception. Do you need to know what an
accronym or initialism stands for to understand the theory/application of the
underlying process, technology, or product?
In other words do you need to absolutely know what HTML stands for before you
can be considered a knowledgeable HTML coder or can you be considered an expert
as long as you can code pages or build them with a wysiwyg editor.
The only danger with bandying too many accronyms about is if people attempting
to communicate understand the concepts behind the accronym at a different level
or from a different angle. Otherwise, there's no reason for ANYONE to know that
PDF stands for any particular thing at all. In the case of the general public,
it's only important that when presented with a pdf they think of Adobe and
Acrobat reader, and that if given the choice between pdf and another form of
delivery they choose pdf because they recognise the brand.
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