Anthropomorphising computers

On Oct 6, 2004, at 7:52 AM, Big Steve wrote:

> Is it just me, or is this really quite irritatingly twee? Or does Steve Jobs
> really expect us to start referring to our 'pods in this bizarrely
> pseudo-personal way? I've tried it; my wife threatened to take iPod away
> from me (see, it just doesn't work, does it?) if I don't stop. So I have.

Every now and then there's a piece of technology that's so adored that
it's referred to without "the" in front of it. The best example I can
come up with is the devotion-inspiring "TiVo."

"Should we watch the game tonight?"
"No, let's watch later. TiVo's recording it."

It's also used as a verb...

"Dang, we'll miss the debates!"
"Don't sweat it. I TiVo'd 'em."

Remember, TiVo loves us, preciousssssss....

--Nik

On 7/10/2004 1:52 AM, "Big Steve" <bigstevemacearthlink.net> spake thus:

> Is it just me, or is this really quite irritatingly twee? Or does Steve Jobs
> really expect us to start referring to our 'pods in this bizarrely
> pseudo-personal way? I've tried it; my wife threatened to take iPod away
> from me (see, it just doesn't work, does it?) if I don't stop. So I have.

They used to use "Macintosh" in a similar manner for many years (although
perhaps not quite to the level that they seem to be going to with the iPod).
I remember that whenever Steve talked about the Mac, it was always just
"Macintosh", not "the Macintosh".

--
=Nigel Stanger, Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND.
mailto:nstangerinfoscience.otago.ac.nz

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 07:08:35 -0700, Nik <gerberinik.net> wrote:
> On Oct 6, 2004, at 7:52 AM, Big Steve wrote:
>
> > Is it just me, or is this really quite irritatingly twee? Or does Steve Jobs
> > really expect us to start referring to our 'pods in this bizarrely
> > pseudo-personal way? I've tried it; my wife threatened to take iPod away
> > from me (see, it just doesn't work, does it?) if I don't stop. So I have.
>
> Every now and then there's a piece of technology that's so adored that
> it's referred to without "the" in front of it. The best example I can
> come up with is the devotion-inspiring "TiVo."

[snip]

> Remember, TiVo loves us, preciousssssss....

You nailed it exactly right. The iPod is the only thing I own that
even comes close to the attachment I have to TiVo. iPod has changed
how I listen to music, true, but I listen to music less than I watch
TiVo.

See, it's not even TV anymore. I don't watch TV. I don't watch "HBO"
I watch TiVo. I don't know what channel some of the shows I watch are
on (is Alias CBS or ABC? I don't know). What was Buffy on before it
moved to UPN, WB or FOX? I think it was WB, but I couldn't swear to
it.

"Let's see what's on the TiVo (because there's always something new on
the TiVo)"

there's something on THE TiVo. But I watch TiVo (not THE TiVo), so it
depends on if its the subject or the indirect object, I guess.

--
 ::::== <http://2blog.kreme.com> ==::::

There are other cultures that do this constantly without it seeming
strange. 'Mac is cute' in Japan just seems like one more possible
perspective, enough so that it is in Apple Japan literature. Other
people keep a big hammer close by to make sure their computer doesn't
misbehave...

Perspectives just make the world more interesting. And when my wife
threatens me I get my endocrine system unentangled; then she stops
threatening me. I stop threatening her, too.

George

George Wade waded in (sorry, George) with:

> 'Mac is cute' in Japan just seems like one more possible
> perspective, enough so that it is in Apple Japan literature.

Yes, indeed, Apple Japan use some bizarre language, but then, the Japanese
have a quite extensive habit of using what looks at first flush quite
remarkably like English in their advertising literature; the simple fact is,
though, that English is not a functional language in Japan (one of the most
relentlessly monolingual countries I've ever visited), and "Mac is cute" is,
in itself, nothing more than cute, language used as decoration rather than
for any particularly communicative end.

And I'll let that one end there, although, since this is my PhD topic, I
could, quite easily, go on at lengths such as would make Adam regret ever
even starting up this list.

Instead, I'll point out, in response to Nik:

> Every now and then there's a piece of technology that's so adored that
> it's referred to without "the" in front of it. The best example I can
> come up with is the devotion-inspiring "TiVo."
>
> "Should we watch the game tonight?"
> "No, let's watch later. TiVo's recording it."
>
> It's also used as a verb...
>
> "Dang, we'll miss the debates!"
> "Don't sweat it. I TiVo'd 'em."

This is every bit as evil, sinister and utterly reprehensible as "Plug in
iPod." I'll admit, though, that I've not heard any of my TiVo-using friends
speak of their kit in this way.

[For us, it certainly has. We talk about watching the TiVo, not the TV, and TiVo has become a verb as well (which makes sense, since otherwise we would have had to switch from "tape" to "record" so it was just as easy to switch to "TiVo" as the verb). -Adam]

Mind you, there is a big difference here. Reference to TiVo as a
personalised entity appears to have been a spontaneous development among its
users; Apple, on the other hand, appear to have decided that this is a good
thing and something that is to be promoted and encouraged in Apple
literature.

Hmmm, I think I feel a paper coming on...

[I hope you'll reference us. :-) -Adam]

Steve

> the simple fact is, though, that English is not a functional language in Japan
> (one of the most relentlessly monolingual countries I've ever visited),

This is off the topic but I thought I'd throw in my few cents.

I was born and raised in Japan and moved to the US in 1970 when I was barely 20. (That should tell you my age. :-)

I went back to visit in 2002 after a long absence and again in the spring of this year. What surprised me the most every time was the Japanese people's inability to speak or understand English. My Japanese is so broken, because of the total lack of practice, that it's much easier to speak English. If my wife is standing next to me, I try not to speak Japanese as much as possible so she would not feel left out.

Advertisements by English language schools are all over the place. You would think that in this day and age when Japan has so much influence on the world's technology, everyone would have at least some basic knowledge of English. After all, English is mandatory through six years of their high school education.

Every place we went; hotels, restaurants, stores, etc. we could not find a single person that could speak English. Ironically, the only person that we were able to exchange a few words with was a rickshaw driver in Nara.

Sorry about my ranting.

____________________
Ryoichi "Roy" Morita
Coarsegold, CA
rjmoritarjmorita.com
http://www.rjmorita.com

At 07:08 -0700 10/7/04, Nigel Stanger opined:
>They used to use "Macintosh" in a similar manner for many years (although
>perhaps not quite to the level that they seem to be going to with the iPod).
>I remember that whenever Steve talked about the Mac, it was always just
>"Macintosh", not "the Macintosh".

"Welcome to Macintosh."
--
Ron Risley
www.risley.net

Didn't the back of the first iBooks say "I was made in Taiwan" or something like that?

--

At 07:43 -0700 UTC, on 2004/10/14, Matthew Younce wrote:

> Didn't the back of the first iBooks say "I was made in Taiwan" or something
>like that?

Even weirderer. Mine reads "i was Assembled in Taiwan". It also says "my
Family No.:"

(That's the exact spelling.)

--
Sander Tekelenburg, <http://www.euronet.nl/~tekelenb/>

At 7:45 AM -0700 10/14/04, Tarik E Sivonen wrote:
>here is a site that could give some insight to the origins of this behavior:

My apologies for posting this - I was working too quickly yesterday,
and failed to check out the URL, which didn't turn out to relate to
the topic at all.

cheers... -Adam

--
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_____________________________________________________________________
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