6 Most Commonly Mistaken Computer Terminologies

6 Most Commonly Mistaken Computer Terminologies by Kuya Dijae.

One time in the office, a user kept asking for help with her "Flash Drive". But her intro with me was "sir! I'm having a problem with my USB, it's not working anymore!", and I was "What USB ma'am?, the USB port or the USB drive "Flash Drive?"

If you get my point here, it means you know what I'm referring to. But I know this is a minor issue with the term "Flash Drive", "USB Drive", "Thumb Drive" or the commonly term "USB". But what I'm saying here is that there are simple terms and name that people are confused with and got used to but not knowing what it truly means.

I just want to share with you, the other name of USB! (kidding, I won't add  a new name for it anymore!). Okay, I want you to know my list of "Most Commonly Mistaken Computer Terminology".

1. "USB".

People call this a lot as USB, but did you know that it really came from the term "USB Flash Drive" and shortened as USB these days? USB or Universal Serial Bus is an industry standard that defines cables, connectors, and communication protocols used in a bus for connection, communication, and power supply between computers and electronic devices. Actually it was designed to connect computer peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, printers, portable media devices, digital cameras, disk drives (USB Flash Drive), and many more. This simply means that USB is not the "Flash Drive that we use to store files", but its really the means for connectivity. Do you get the point?

2. "Laptop, Notebook, Netbook".

Sometimes people are confused with these terms, but 2 of them are interchangeable, those are Laptop and Notebook. Laptop or Notebook are those we see with larger screens 13" or more and has more power just like a desktop. Unlike Netbook, it is smaller with 10" screen size diagonally and has lesser power specially in CPU, and graphics. Also, Netbook has no option of DVD/CD drives and has lesser USB ports. So depends on your needs if you need to have a Netbook or Notebook.

3. "WiFi" and "Internet". 

I hear many people use the term "WiFi" as their internet itself and I tell them always that WiFi is NOT the internet. WIFI or (Wireless Fidelity) is the wireless connection using a Wireless Router (or that little rectangular box thing that blinks a lot). Technically WiFi is produced using an AP (Access Point) which comes with a SSID (Service Set Identifier) or "WiFi name" as most people call it that usually accessed by a password. Are you still with me? Alright, while Internet is the "Internet itself" which you access to open websites and connect to your love ones. To sum up, for you to connect to the internet, you need to connect through a WiFi connection at home, office, school or Malls or if you have a network cable provided too! Are we clear? Read again. :)

4. "Mouse" vs the "Cursor".

To make this short, what you are holding right now to click something on your screen, that's a MOUSE. And the "Arrow" or "Pointer" on your screen to click something is a "Cursor". Right? I hope that's clear!



5. "Desktop" vs the "PC".

While these two seems the same and almost everyone will say too, I'll tell you it depends on how you say it. "Desktop" is a general term of a computer classification that has a greater amount of power to compute composed of a system unit, monitor, keyboard and mouse basically. In short, it is the type of computer we see that is not a Laptop. If you want to know the difference of a Laptop and Desktop, please read my article here. So what is a PC? PC or (Personal Computer) is a name registered to IBM or it was called before as IBM PC as their first produced personal computer to be compatible to IBM machines. But today, the term PC has become more and more difficult to pin down, but to make it short it applies to any personal computer based on an Intel Microprocessor or an Intel-compatible microprocessor. So remember a PC is not a Mac, PC were referred by Apple to a Windows-based machine, as opposed to its own computers, which are called "Macs". But as for a generally term used today, when you have a computer at home or at work, you can safely call it a PC. So unless you know the difference and the history, you can say the word PC when you see one. :)

6. "Install" vs "Setup".

Because people use this a lot, specially administrators/technicians and programmers this would be a good example. But for the non-technical people, like you (perhaps) you heard this many times from your friends when you want or need a software to run on your computer. The main difference of Install and Setup is that, there's an initial and after process. Initial is when you "Install" a program to your computer, it's sometimes called "pre-setup". Install or installation is the process of copying or putting the necessary files of a program to your computer. While the "after process" is the "Setup" is when you or the computer "configures" or "modify" the files for the specific needs of the software to run on your computer. Still with me? Basically, Install is putting that software to your computer, as the Setup is when you do some configurations. See reference below for further explanation. Whew that was tough yeah?

I know there are more things and common computer terminologies that people use incorrectly. But this doesn't mean that the person you are telling this will not understand. That's the use of communication, agree with me? Same thing in communication, structural grammar is not always needed in personal communication but importantly, you understand each other right? Now here comes the grammar gurus! :) Well, my article is not to argue on the grammar matters but did you get my point here? These are the terminologies you use (I guess that confuse others).
So If you have any more to add, feel free to comment and let me know what you think here. Now if you need to know anything about these terms, you can always call Google of course! But I hope you learn something here, because that's the goal of Kuya Dijae!

Thank you for reading! Check out my other Computer Related Topics for Tips and Know-How! Don't be less-literate kaibigan!

References: PC - http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PC.html,  http://www.techterms.com/definition/pc
Setup vs Install - http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/10772/what-is-the-difference-between-setup-and-install-based-on-computer-programs
Most if it are from Kuya Dijae's stock knowledge. :)