[mythtv-users] seagate giving refunds out

[Michael T. Dean]

On 12/07/2007 09:55 PM, Peter Schachte wrote:
> Michael T. Dean wrote:
>> The problem is that the units of capacity /are/
>> accurately specified on the drive/retail box, but those reading the box
>> misinterpret the meaning of those units because of ignorance.
>>     
> Sure.  And Seagate could be expected to know that customers would
> misinterpret it.  I wonder whether the decision to quote capacity in SI units
> was made by engineers or marketers?  It's like if Apple were to advertise
> MacOS as the penultimate desktop OS in popularity.  Sure, it's true,

I wonder if GNU/Linux would be the antepenultimate or the
preantepenultimate.

>  but they
> should know that most English speakers who recognize the word "penultimate"
> think it means something like "beyond the ultimate," so they should know it
> would be misleading.
>
> Unlike formal langauges, the meaning of statements in natural language (and
> marketing-speak) is what most people think they mean, much as we as engineers
> might like to think it's their formal meaning.

Well, I'll admit that I'm a bit more concerned about semantics and
grammar than most people I know.

I even get upset when I hear the  Joan Osborne song, "One of Us" (and
not just because I'm hearing the song) because the chorus line, "What if
God was one of us?" fails to use the subjunctive mood--which is dying
away due to the "evolving language" folks out there.  Every time that
line is said, I correct it to, "What if God were one of us?" in my
mind.  This is just another case of changing the rules to fit the
popular misconception.

Oh, and don't get me started on, "Hopefully,"--which is almost never
used properly in modern English (this time I'm not talking about a
singing group, though).  Again, its current usage is become accepted.

Mike