Re: Grammar - The Gotcha Microsoft Gives

[mattgras -at- comcast -dot- net]

You miss my drift. 



I am a person. 



I am not a "user," a "customer," or a "consumer." 



All those terms present me in relation to products or services, and regard me as a cog in a corporate machine. 



This is, I think, a major problem in our world and one of the reasons why profits are more highly regarded than people. 



----- Original Message -----


From: "Richard Combs" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com> 
To: mattgras -at- comcast -dot- net 
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com 
Sent: Thursday, September 8, 2011 8:36:13 AM 
Subject: RE: Grammar - The Gotcha Microsoft Gives 

mattgras -at- comcast -dot- net wrote: 
 
> I find the words "user," "customer," and "consumer" (especially 
> consumer) alarming: why do we all, including media, seem to 
> increasingly regard P E O P L E as entites in relationship with 
> products? 

Alarming? Seriously? I believe there are prescription medications that can help you with that. :-) 

After you calm down, you may want to study those terms that disturb you a bit more carefully. You seem to be using "entites" (entities) as a synonym for "things." But the words "user," "customer," and "consumer" aren't references to _entities_ in that sense, they're references to _actors_. 

Richard G. Combs 
Senior Technical Writer 
Polycom, Inc. 
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 
303-223-5111 
------ 
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 
303-903-6372 
------ 







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