> ...a wooden stake through the heart of the word "consumer"
Same for the word "user", IMO. Very similar connotations to it: it's been too often used to mean someone incapable, lacking autonomy, needing a benefactor to make a decision for them. Which they do need, because we've been designing hostile and complex interfaces that strip them of said autonomy.
Compare that to the word "operator": evokes an image of someone operating a CNC machine, maybe piloting a helicopter...
@nobody I hadn't considered that, and I do have some TRON nostalgia for "user", but hot damn do you make a good point, and "operator" does slap. Imma let that marinate in my brain for the next couple days.
🙈 'fraid I'm not sure which "TRON" you're referring to, I'm a bit uncultured
But I doubt it's anything inherent about the word, I guess we must've tainted it over the past 3-4 decades? It's kind of likea miniature of the situation with, say, "negro" or "black": it's arguably not by-construction deragatory, but is made so through centuries of deragatory or dehumanizing usage.
@MaddieM4 ...tainted by the joint effort of the corporate and the sysadmin cultures
@nobody @MaddieM4 "Which TRON"?
There is only one TRON. The sequels are ... not worth considering.
I also have big nostalgia for TRON and "I fight for the users" -- and that was before I'd ever touched a computer.
Operator is a good word. I don't know if I want to replace "user" with it, but it's a good word choice.
