So I just have to yell and gripe and complain about this... because I honestly feel it was one of the stupidest, most easily avoidable user experience issues I've ever run into.
Console and Terminal on OS X.
What a terrible naming idea; whoever picked the "second" (in terms of time) name should be fired. The two words are synonyms -- it's like making a distinction between kleenex and tissue! To make matters worse, you access one (the "console") using the other (the "terminal") under the hood, and many other platforms refer to the "terminal" as the "console." Yech!
All Apple had to do was use the name "Log Viewer" instead of "Console" and the issue would go away. But instead, I have to explain to people that by "terminal", I don't actually mean "console" and vice versa.
Insanely stupid and rather sad.
In other news, my Apple stock has gone up almost 4$ in the last two days.
Yeah, I bought apple when it was at one of it's lowest points. I also got a bushel of Google at $193.00 ...Ahhhhh.
Log Viewer? Bah! What a Windows name....
:)
Lol, yes -- concise and sensible. Unlike... oh.. say... Apple Script Studio. ;-)
But it does more than just VIEW Logs! You can also clear them. So it could be Log Viewer And Clearer.
But you don't want people to think that it clears logs automatically, they might lose something important. So maybe: "Log Viewer and (Optionally) Clearer" would be the best name.
Then again, neophytes might not know what a log is... so perhaps the best name is:
Log Viewer and (Optionally) Clearer, by the way a Log is Generally a Record of Errors or Other Debugging Information Written by a Software Program or Service.
What stinks is that I sold my Apple stock at $67.
It'd be tough to fire the "guy" who named Terminal as he (or she) probably never worked at Apple. It's had that name all the way back to the NeXT. And it is virtually the exact same app.
Why not call it iLogger?
Heh, nice suggestions guys.
One thing no one seems to have caught on to is the ironic fact that the "anti-Mac guy" has Apple stock. ;-) I usually laugh when people accuse me of hating Apple. I really don't -- they're making me a mint.
In other news... I'm sure you won't mind fixing another PushButton.Default bug, since you've done so many already ;)
ludloxtr
In other news, you're mean, stop finding these damned default button bugs. :-P
Gee. That was fast! On a Saturday, to boot. Thanks.
[...] « Terrible Naming Convention [...]
I think "Console" may mean to be the "Instrumentation Console" if you are looking for an explanation of the name. Having been a mainframe operator in the past, to me a console is a place where system logs are visible, so I had no problem with the name and knew exactly what it meant. FWIW.
Oh, Aaron, nice blog in spite of the anti-Mac comments ;) And, I love RB on my Mac.
Well, if you consider that, like the -console- of your car, Console provides data (logs), I guess it kinda makes sense... or... um, ah.... maybe, sorta.
@Troy -- I recall hearing that Console was a part of NeXT, which makes sense. However, you try explaining the difference between Console and Terminal to anyone coming from a background aside from mainframes. ;-) Interestingly enough, this isn't an issue for people new to computers -- they look for the exact words you tell them to look for. It's only an issue for people who're used to computers. They see "Console" and figure "hey, that must be the terminal."
@Corey -- I also play games on a console, and never view logs on it. ;-)
and I thought you meant to console, you know, like a terminal friend.