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"Is it a PC or laptop?"
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
in General Chat
Since my new boss has taken office last October, I have been hearing the title question coming from him repeatedly, and it is starting to irk me. A laptop computer can still be a PC... but it can also be a Mac. A desktop computer can still be a PC... but it can also be a Mac. So you're either going to ask:
a) Is it a desktop or a laptop?
b) Is it a PC or a Mac?
Anyone else has a boss/senior/supervisor who does this? :-) I know some people refer Dysons as "Hoovers" but I don't mind that. It's such innacuracies in the IT industry that shouldn't be tolerated.
a) Is it a desktop or a laptop?
b) Is it a PC or a Mac?
Anyone else has a boss/senior/supervisor who does this? :-) I know some people refer Dysons as "Hoovers" but I don't mind that. It's such innacuracies in the IT industry that shouldn't be tolerated.
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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Comments
Always far preffered Macs, but the differences between PC's and Macs arn't so big and don't matter so much anymore.
Still prefer using macs though
Even my uber-geek friend (much more of a geek than I am, or probably ever will be) did it once recently!
Should it not be:
a) Is it a desktop or a laptop?
b) Is it Windows or a Mac?
I believe the latest term is NoteBook (or MacBook) not Laptop
You shouldn't be talking about innacuracies when you've used the wrong term yourself.
If you say LapTop you are indicating it's ok to put this object that could get very hot or even catch on fire on rare occasions on your lap - just asking to be sued if you live in the USA.
Oh yes, I've had a few customers do the "hard drive" thing or referring to a pen/flash drive as their "USB".
So are you saying it should be:
1) Is it a desktop or a laptop?
2) Is it windows or mac os x?
?
Cause surely if it's a mac then you're implying that it's mac os x (not exclusively I know)?
A computer can be a PC or a Mac (or other things), but not both. And it can be a desktop or a laptop, and not both.
lol Something abou that made Me laugh
The line between PC and Windows OS is blurred because of Windows monopoly.
Technically yes.
But since their origins machines running DOS, and other systems were generally labled PC's and machines made by Apple have been labled macs since the first Macintosh.
For example, old school people would denote a computer with unix "unix workstation" and not a pc.
I wouldn't pay so much attention to the conventions any longer, people can run several OS's on a computer anyway.
A PC is a Personal Computer. A laptop, or notebook, or desktop could all fall into this category. Whether they be primarily used at home, in an office, or on your lap sitting on a train - they are all personal computers.
A Mac is a personal computer.
A Windows-based machine is a personal computer, unless it is a server.
They are both very different machines though. But this is the point - a PC is just a name given to machines used for a purpose. It is not defined anywhere that a PC must be running Windows, nor must it be running OS X.
The correct questions should be:-
Regardless of the answer, the following would still be a valid question:-
After pointing this out to your boss, you can happily answer all questions legitimately - it is a PC, whether laptop/notebook or desktop-based. And it is still a PC, whether it be running something from the Windows family, or the Mac OS X family.
Chances are every machine he encounters will be a PC these days.
Yes, that's why I said people have 'generally' labled the machines that way since their origins.
You will often find people still refering to Windows based machines as PC's and MacOs based machine as Macs, but they are both personal computers.
The mind boggles.