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Comment by tyler | Hacker News Reader

I don't mean to be pedantic, but the word "transparent", in this context, means "easily perceived or detected". I believe you're using it to mean the opposite.

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This has actually tripped me up a lot. In many figurative contexts, like "transparent government" for instance, transparent means the mechanisms are apparent or not hidden. However, when talking about computer processes or interfaces, it always means quite the opposite, "invisible to the user". So tiles used it correctly when he commented on how SPDY usage was transparent because he (the user) was unaware of it.

Indeed. It's a word that can be perceived in two ways, with radically different meanings. Better to use another one.

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Depends. tiles used:

  > The transparency with which Chrome did this
  > was actually a problem for me

"with which Chrome did this" -- to me -- inferred that he was referring to the development group when he said "Chrome" (and also was referring to the process with which they executed said upgrade). This would imply transparency in the 'apparent or not hidden' sense being applied to the Chrome development group and/or the process that they were using.

Just sayin'. The choice of words was a little ambiguous in that it could be taken either way, and that wildly changes the meaning of the word 'transparent.'

  > the word "transparent", in this context, means "easily perceived or detected"

This definition doesn't make much sense to me. Transparent objects are less easily perceived/detected than opaque objects. In technology, transparent proxies/compression/encryption are designed to have little/no impact on their contained data.

I think this word uses the assumption that between you and them is an object. If the object is transparent, you can see what they are doing. If it is not, and it is a cloak of some sort, you cannot see what they are doing.

Agreed: "this feature works so transparently that I didn't even know it was there"

Not knowing was a bad thing in this case.

My team often speaks of operating transparently, and by this we mean that management can easily see what we're doing and why. So think about the transparency if actions rather than some object.

Indeed, that is how tiles used the word:

The transparency with which Chrome did this

(but meant the opposite)

Not to be pedantic, but your message should read, "I know I'm being very pedantic, but ..."

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