Click/Tick/Tap/Clap

[August1991]

Microsoft wants us now to tap, not click. With Windows 8, Microsoft entered the touchscreen world and so one can not only click - or right-click - one can also tap.

[i think an Apple screen can detect up to nine different fingers (taps) touching the screen at the same time. And I say that despite that I am not an Apple fan boy.]

Why say "Click or Tap"? We should have a single word: "Clap" or "Tick" to indicate whether a user you should tap or click the screen to indicate a choice.

====

Yet, these words/sounds are Anglo-Saxon. They are short, sharp. All the "bad" words in modern English have a similar style - perhaps because of their clarity. Are programmers appealing to an American/anglo market with these words as an attempt to be clear?

Edited November 4, 2014 by August1991

[kimmy]

Why say "Click or Tap"? We should have a single word: "Clap" or "Tick" to indicate whether a user you should tap or click the screen to indicate a choice.

Yet, these words/sounds are Anglo-Saxon. They are short, sharp. All the "bad" words in modern English have a similar style - perhaps because of their clarity. Are programmers appealing to an American/anglo market with these words as an attempt to be clear?

Perhaps Anglo/American marketers are appealing to an Anglo/American market by using words that Anglo/American customers actually use.

Perhaps if Les Francophones had developed the touchscreen interface, we would all be talking about Le Caressement instead of tapping our screens, but I somehow doubt it.

-k

[Michael Hardner]

Yet, these words/sounds are Anglo-Saxon. They are short, sharp. All the "bad" words in modern English have a similar style - perhaps because of their clarity. Are programmers appealing to an American/anglo market with these words as an attempt to be clear?

It's not their clarity, directly. The oldest words are from the oldest version of the language, which were the simplest words as the language had developed. And the oldest words were the words that people needed more often, is the theory that I was told.

So you have: hit, bite, kick, lick, tap... etc.

Life was interactive, even then.

[Big Guy]

Perhaps the next generation of machines will be sensitive to the different parts of the human body.

For example you can "tap" the screen or "lick" the screen in food related software. You could "elbow" the screen in sports related programs or even "knee" the screen in other sports applications. You could "nose" the screen for fine print sections. One could "butt" the screen for particularly offensive software or "kick" the screen for politically related software.

[Michael Hardner]

Perhaps the next generation of machines will be sensitive to the different parts of the human body.

I played a computer game in September that read your brain waves, I'm not kidding. Also it was a drinking game that dispensed a shot at the end, also not kidding. It didn't work.

[Mighty AC]

Perhaps the next generation of machines will be sensitive to the different parts of the human body.

That's already happening as systems like Microsoft's Kinect and optical gestures allow cameras to translate the movement of our bodies into commands. Some like the physical aspect being added to games, but it has a whole host of applications. For instance, when watching a movie via the Plex app for the XBox, I can use voice commands and hand gestures to select a show, pause, play, fast forward, etc. I can also have the show automatically pause when I leave the room and continue when I return. Gestures are also built into most smartphones now. So I can swipe through screens on my phone without touching it. This comes in handy when I get an important text or email while eating lunch.

This PC concept by HP, incorporates a changing visual touchpad and a 3D scanner. I think the concept needs some work but it's certainly interesting.

[The_Squid]

I played a computer game in September that read your brain waves, I'm not kidding. Also it was a drinking game that dispensed a shot at the end, also not kidding. It didn't work.

You mean it wasn't getting a reading??

[The_Squid]

Is this OP complaining about the use of English words when people are conversing in English?

[Bonam]

Is this OP complaining about the use of English words when people are conversing in English?

English is too anglocentric.

[Michael Hardner]

English is too anglocentric.

J'y crois.

[BubberMiley]

For example you can "tap" the screen or "lick" the screen in food related software. You could "elbow" the screen in sports related programs or even "knee" the screen in other sports applications. You could "nose" the screen for fine print sections. One could "butt" the screen for particularly offensive software or "kick" the screen for politically related software.

Would that also work with the "bad" words August was talking about?

[Big Guy]

I like the idea of body movements (arms and hands) to make changes during the watching of a movie on TV.

For a while, when remotes first came in, there were problems with remote "wars" with two or more people having a functional remote wanting to switch to their own channel. That was eventually solved with the "overrider" remote which would block out all other remotes.

Now, with the hand and arm gestures, I can see a room where the people watching a movie look like a bunch of third base coaches practicing their signs or like someone had released a horde of red ants.

Oh the wonders of modern science!

[cybercoma]

If words were paint, August would be the forum's Jackson Pollock.