The Hard Drive Is Inside the Computer

davidmwilliams writes "Those of us who work in technology have a jargon all of our very own. We know the difference between CPUs and GPUs, between SSD and HD, let alone HD and SDTV! Yet, our users are flat out calling everything 'the hard drive.' Why is it so?" As much as I hate to admit it, this particular thing drives me nuts. You don't call the auto shop and tell them that your engine is broken when your radio breaks!

Comments

Re:Meh

[Propaganda13]

But people are expected to know that a radiator is not the same as a car. I don't expect people to know the difference between SATA and IDE, but they need to know the difference between the engine and the wheels.

If you want to discuss something, you need to know at least a decent subset of the vocabulary that goes with it. If you don't, then you use phrases like "my car is broken" and "it keeps overheating", not "the axel is broken". Just because you know the word axle is a car thing doesn't mean it's OK to use it to refer to any part of the car.

What's wrong with your car?
The engine's leaking antifreeze.
Really the engine itself? Not a hose or maybe the radiator?

It's like saying your heart is leaking blood when you cut your finger. /sarcasm

Everything under the hood is "the engine".
The monitor is "the computer".
The computer is "the hard drive".

If you don't know how or when to listen to people, you should hide out on the interweb.