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Comment by WorldMaker | Hacker News Reader

I've been joking lately that there is a new one syllable word for "personal computer": phone. At the current rate that's how the language will shift. I suppose we'll know if people start referring to things like "macOS deskphones" and think "laptop" always meant "laptop phone". :)

It's like those futurist ads from the 50s (and 80s/90s) AT&T that soon there will be phones capable of amazing things everywhere in our lives, except they aren't all AT&T branded and most of them started with the name "personal computer". (Though savor the irony that Ma Bell's legacy lives on in Linux by way of Bell Labs' contributions to Unix.)

Then again, I'm also strongly for renaming 3D Printers to facsimile machines because the word fax is too useful to lose to ancient toner-based modem printers.

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Mobile phones are called "Handys" in German. It's become such a satisfying and appropriate name for handheld computers, as distinct from traditional personal computers.

In British English, they've always called cellphones "mobiles", which is also a nice short name for mobile computers.

In American English, a handy means... something else.

Mobile could work, though, and I've heard it used.

In Argentina is "el celular" as in "teléfono celular", or sometimes like in Spain "el móvil" which I like better because it means "the mobile", which in the long term could mean "the mobile computer".

In Polish it's "komórka" which literally means "a cell"(like a cell in your body).

I think this usage is dying out in British English in much the same way as the word "auto" for car. People still speak of "mobile networks" and "auto dealerships", but they buy "phones" and "cars".

Maybe this is a regional thing, but I'm British and I'm not sure I've ever heard a first language British English speaker use the word "auto" for a car. I'd have said that was purely an Americanism.

I'm a native speaker of American English (California dialect) and I have never heard another native speaker use "auto" for a car except in the context of "auto dealership".

I think you're right. I am dual nationality US/UK so sometimes I tend to cross my metaphors. Perhaps a better, British example would be the word "motor" instead of "auto". Used in words like "motorway", but I've never heard anyone actually use it to mean "car" outside of 80s cockney rap.

(Which is apparently a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Ullo_John!_Gotta_New_Motor%3F)

I've heard "motor" used quite frequently for "car", but only ever hear it from my 70yo father now (UK English).

I've most commonly heard motor as referring to an engine (UK english). I'd say a good example might be from french, with the formal and correct "voiture" not commonly being used, with the less formal "bagnole" being much more common.

Motor is the only word used for engine in Swedish, I believe it's the same in other nordic languages.

Nah, still pretty widely used in certain circles - even to the extent that you can have a car sales site called motors and it be obvious: http://www.motors.co.uk/

Well that's certainly an interesting example - that website uses the word "car" in every instance except the domain name.

I think as a usage it's regarded as vaguely old fashioned and twee.

For comparison here's https://www.mobiles.co.uk/ - again, in every instance the noun is either "phone" or the fully qualified "mobile phone".

I think you misinterpreted the point. As I read it, "car" and "phone" are the terms Americans (and others) use, and that the British sometimes used "auto" and "mobile" but that usage is dying out (which doesn't conflict with you not having heard it).

As an American, "car" and "phone" are definitely the norm. The only time I've ever heard "mobile" is as a prefix to phone, so "mobile phone". It's sometimes used on forms to distinguish between home, work and mobile numbers (like I just did).

"Auto" maybe but "mobile" and "phone" are definitely equally used synonyms along with "mobe" in all the areas of the UK that I have been to (most).

"Landline" is seeing a resurgence as general parlance for the thing gathering dust, which used to be simply _the_ phone.

I concur - native en_GB speaker here. Auto(mobile) is probably avoided as a general synonym for car because we use "automatic" to differentiate from the default "manual" AKA "stick-shift".

Having said that, this is probably only modern usage. The AA (Automobile Association) and RAC (Royal Automobile Club) both feature "automobile" in their names and are both well over 100 years old.

I suppose (without doing any research) car is probably short for carriage.

Much more likely to say "motor".

Mobile is short for mobile phone. I think most people are most likely to say "bring your phone", rather than "bring your mobile".

Depends on a country. Mobile is popular as well.

I feel like when I think of "mobile", I can only see a European person saying it. In the US it's usually "phone" or "cell phone".

In the U.K. I'd say it's mobile and phone pretty much interchangeably (possibly more phone than mobile nowadays as proposed by ancestor comment). If anyone says cell phone then you can immediately spot that they're american.

Yeah. Mobile and cell are both popular in India , in that order

I think everyone here calls them cellphones. I call them mobiles and everyone gets it. Handy... wouldn't work in Canada, and I suspect not in the U.S. either.

Handy (CA, US etc) == handjob (GB etc). Presumably handy is an abbreviation of handjob. I know blowjob is in common parlance at least on both sides of the pond. Perhaps it is just as well DE didn't pick blowey or blowie (those are in use over here in a similar way to handy on the left edge of the pond.)

Handy could work in the UK except that it is extensively used already as an adjective eg: "that's a bit handy" or "you'll find this handy" etc. "That's a handy handy" would be a bit weird and as we already have mobile then there is no need for it. I suspect that "cell" will creep in eventually but not yet.

Etymology can be quite interesting 8)

Yeah, we have all of that here, adjective and all.

A mildly interesting dovetail to all that is that a vernacular for phone used to be "the blower". I suspect through comparison of early phones with [ships] communication voice-pipes.

Cf. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_tube#Domestic_use.

Good catch - "blower". I still use that term myself and so do several others in my acquaintance. Even kids understand what I mean so it is definitely embedded in the national conscience here still or at least they get the idea by reference and context.

Without any research whatsoever I'll also venture that "blowing" is what people used to do when they had to rush downstairs to answer the new fangled telephonic device and ended up out of breath. However, again without research, there is a good chance that the RN and co would have referred to the voice tubes on ships as "blowers" because that is the sort of word they would pick. I know a lot of modern matelots and that theory fits nicely.

> blowey or blowie

Although blower is slang for a phone in the UK.

In Chinese it translates to "hand machine," and computer translates to "electric brain"

Likewise in French, 'portable', similar to mobile.

Case in point, the term is also used for laptops.

In the Flemish part of Belgium they're still often referred to as GSMs. My wife and I, however, refer to ours as "gizmos" when talking to each other.

In American slang, "Handys" are another term for an act with a partner.

Besides referring to the actual product (iPhone or Android etc), I'm not aware if we have a term to replace phone

That's not too well known in American slang, in my experience. I'd never heard that usage before now. Edit -- lots of people here recognize that usage, so I guess I'm just sheltered. Regardless, I hear 'handy' used in the US as an adjective meaning convenient quite often.

But, if so, it's like the reverse of Americans talking about their "fanny pack" while in England.

> But, if so, it's like the reverse of Americans talking about their "fanny pack" while in England.

There was a (funny) local news story in Australia when comedian Will Ferrell accidentally made an off-color "fanny" joke not knowing what the word meant abroad. Shows how slight differences in the same language can mean worlds of difference.

> Regardless, I hear 'handy' used in the US as an adjective meaning convenient quite often.

Yes, as an adjective. As a noun (which is what is being discussed here) there's only one commonly known meaning, and it's that one.

I spent a lot of time (months each year, for 5 years) in Berlin and never heard this... FWIW

I'm pretty sure this will Baader-Meinhoff it into recognition for you. It's in the A1 level vocab, and I would see it on signs outside of Spätis and phone stores on a daily basis.

There's actually a wonderful and very generic word that was invented for these devices back in 1965 (!): "joymaker".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joymaker

That's surprisingly prescient!

Before laptops became physically possible due to LCDs there were portable computers [1] (yes, I played with one my high school lab had).

I suspect in the future we'll have curious historians trying to figure out how the phrase "personal computer" ended up being shortened to "phone".

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_computer

I like how minicomputer used to mean "computer that's only as big as a chest freezer." Every now and then I hear laypeople use the term "mini-computer" to mean a computer that's really small by their standards, like a raspberry Pi.

And then we had "microcomputers" (desktop PC sized). Rather disappointed we didn't call laptops "nanocomputers" and phones "picocomputers" :)

In Swedish, the term "stordator", literally "big computer" refers to a mainframe.

I really like your idea of nano and picocomputers. It's consistent, and really reflects on the miniaturisation that we have seen since since the invention of the computer.

Since "computer" pre-dates digital, it might be a good time to come up with a more apt base term too. It's not as if most people's usage of them (at least as far as they know!) is performing arithmetic.

In Norwegian, it's "stormaskin" for mainframe.

So, would a smartwatch be an "attocomputer"?

> I've been joking lately that there is a new one syllable word for "personal computer": phone.

I wouldn't be surprised. I suspect that a smartphone is the only computer very large majority of today's children has ever used.

Something I never really thought of but that definitely looks like the trend: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-owne...

Ever seen a two year old use a tablet? Don't be shocked if in ten to twelve years we have teenagers who can only use a touch interface and can't type or hate using a mouse.

That is exactly my grandchildren. My grandson is four and has been using smartphones for three years. He's had his own for one. Color me shocked when, at three, he asked me to connect his phone to my wifi. They're bright enough kids but far from exceptional/genius. Its just how it is now.

By the way, when you make the off/end button big and red, it is nigh impossible to convince a little boy not to press it. Over and over.

Interesting - especially the using the mouse/trackpad part. They're going to want pro tablets. Some of those two year olds of yore are now seven - and elementary schools in the U.S. are still very tablet focused. It'll be interesting to see what happens in four or so years when they start middle school and are expected to use traditional laptops.

It's more fun when they try to swipe the TV and can't understand why it doesn't work the same way.

People laughed when in a Windows 8 keynote a Microsoft exec said, "To a kid, a screen without touch is broken."

I think that was pretty spot on. Touch is a very primal way to interact with things.

I sometimes do miss the functionality of touching/swiping my laptop.

I've seen a toddler try to swipe on a magazine. It was both hilarious and enlightening.

I recently caught myself holding my finger on a paper book and waiting for the translation dialog to pop up. Guess too much time spent reading on a Kindle.

link: https://www.cnet.com/news/1-year-old-thinks-a-magazine-is-a-...

I was about to comment, it is very annoying to write on a tablet for any kind of school length work. I would hate to write an essay on a tablet.

Then I realized I have installed Dragon on this computer, and there wasn't even a reason for me to type this reply. So I will risk a guess and assume that in the future essays will be spoken, not written. No doubt there will be an epic fight over this, as people try to defend why children of the future will have to learn to type. I will hazard one more prediction: they will lose.

Hello, computer.

Integer main open parenthesis void close parenthesis open squigly brace. Newline.

Bob, find some earphones and stop complaining. I'm not the one that pushed for open-plan.

Computer, please delete the previous paragraph.

Standard colon colon cee out less than less than double quote capital hello world exclamation point double quote semi-colon. Newline.

Close squigly brace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyLqUf4cdwc

That was horrible, but I couldn't stop watching!

A good voice ide would handle the boilerplate

Hello computer

new function returning void print hello world end function

See this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SkdfdXWYaI

> In a fast-paced live demo, I will create a small system using Python, plus a few other languages for good measure, and deploy it without touching the keyboard. The demo gods will make a scheduled appearance. I hope to convince you that voice recognition is no longer a crutch for the disabled or limited to plain prose. It's now a highly effective tool that could benefit all programmers.

Turns out it's doable, you just need to invent your own language.

You're assuming writing is a highly linear process, which has pretty much never been the case. When dictating memos was a thing, even that took practice. Anything more complex has always involved huge amounts of cutting and pasting--whether literally or digitally.

Given good enough voice recognition and good enough touch interfaces that work in concert (and ignoring the many situations where speaking is an issue), it's possible. But it's not an easy path.

Great, so in the future we're going to have to listen to people writing their pretentious novels in cafes. With any luck, I'll be deaf by then.

With any luck, they'll be subvocalizing.

> Then again, I'm also strongly for renaming 3D Printers to facsimile machines because the word fax is too useful to lose to ancient toner-based modem printers.

Then maybe we really will be able to "receive a fax at the beach"[1] in the future!

[1]: http://mentalfloss.com/article/50105/you-willsend-fax-beach

man, as soon as that ad began playing, I remembered it... Remember the PS9 ad? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRJXLu3YVpM

My two-year-old son calls my DSLR "phone". So I guess you're right. Just like "WiFi cable".

"I'm also strongly for renaming 3D Printers to facsimile machines" Wouldn't you need a 3D Scanner/Printer to really be a facsimile machine?

It's not a strong requirement in my mind, but again I'm posturing that the original term fax was far too explicitly framed when it is more useful as a very generic term.

Bell Lab's legacy lives on in a lot more than just linux...

the transistor and information theory are both the foundation for these phones we're talking about

Let's call it a "phown" as a clue to the future generations that nothing is to be considered private any longer :)

i like the term pda better that also happens to be a phone.

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