Originally Posted By: TheFallibleFiend
PC refers to any personal computer. The use of PC predates the IBM PC........Nowadays even many tech people will tell you (incorrectly) that the term PC applies only IBMs.


Forgive me Fal, no offense, but my highly-remunerated aerospace IT Son No. 1 would rake you over the coals for that "[incorrectly]". And indeed, for what it's worth, the pre-'s vs the de-'s would debate your assertion indefinitely ad infinitum

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"When people hear the word PC, we want them to think only of our product (IBM)."...........As technical words become widespread, I think their meanings become diffuse, more confusing, and less useful..............They don't know or care about the correct meanings of the words, because it's not important to them.


Thank you for that rundown and I agree; before I turned in my credentials as prescriptivist for those of a de-, I preached my preference when a new technology appears, for applying a new word rather than stretching or "smearing" an old one; naming a rom a "drive," and the like, a tendency that could eventually wind using the term also to describe a written algorthm then eventually a book, any book

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All blogs are websites, but not all websites are blogs. A message "board" is not a blog. Most message boards these days are websites (or are hosted at websites), but that was not always the case, as message boards predate the web.
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But when I look up these terms I get the distinct impression they are already all melding into one another

dalehileman