[Sussex] Do we confuse you?

[Geoffrey J. Teale]

"John D." <john at johnsemail.eclipse.co.uk> writes:

> erm, I also seem to recall that ComputerActive mag's use of the "CPEs"
> crystal mark, may have gone someway in helping it become the UKs largest
> circulation computer/IT mag.

Oddly I've never heard of this magazine...  I long ago got board of
the sort of computer magazines you can get in your average WH Smiths.

> Sure, it's not gonna be of much interest to most here at the SLUG list,
> but it does have it's uses (ha, it gives me a number of opportunities to
> send the regular "Use Linux/why not" etc type emails), if only to show
> how even vaguely technical issues CAN be explained in "plain
> english".

Fair enough.

> Though I'm pleasantly suprised to hear that the legal world have an
> equivalent of the CPE. I've always presumed that the whole point of
> legal draughtsmen writing is such a way was more to do with the self
> serving nature of the Law Society (or the BMA/GMC in a similar fashion)
> and vested interest (Ker-ching $$$£££$$$ etc), or perhaps I'm just being
> too cynical!

Perhaps.  It's fair to say that the law is complex enough that using
latin terms actually makes it _easier_ to understand.  Much like
I.T. there are some concepts that just can't be shortcut. 

It's fine for people to moan that lawyer, programmers, doctors
etc,.. speak in acronyms but the reality is that some things aren't
simple to understands and require training and experience to grasp.
There is often the prevailing air of the mistrustful surf about people
who complain about these things.  

Sure there's a strong case for people to avoid unnecessary
obfustication in the way we talk about things (and believe me
programmers, the good ones at least, understand this far better than
you might imagine) but it's not a hard and fast rule that can be
applied in all cases.

Here's an interesting example. 

RAM.

Now, I conservatively guess that 100% of people on this list can tell
me what it stands for (in an I.T. sense, anyone who says anything
about "Atomic Mass" is going to get a slap (of their choice) next time
I see them :-) ).

However, I feel equally confident that the proportion of this list who
can give me an accurate description of what RAM _is_ and how it is
used is actually much lower.  Of those people the number who could give you a
description without resorting to using phrases like "Address Space",
"Word", "Bit", "Semiconductor".. etc.. etc.. 

... and at the end of all that would you be any wiser?  Maybe, it
depends on your training and experience! 


> Any group in the legal world who are aiming at concisness/clarity within
> "things legal" deserve a pat on the back for their efforts, though I
> also suspect that they've set themselves one hell of a big mountain to
> climb.

They aren't just aiming for it - it is the _standard_ practice.  It's
just hard to convey these things all the same.  I'm sure Sarah could
spend a whole day talking about it, it's a subject she is particularly
interested in.

-- 
Geoff Teale
CMed Technology            -   gteale at cmedresearch.com
Free Software Foundation   -   tealeg at member.fsf.org