Why do people still use the term “lap-top” for mini portable computers?
The "lap-top" computer has not been manufactured for a couple decades, yet people still call the Electronic Notebook or "notebook" mini portable computer a "lap top". Why do people use such baby talk when they do not call a car a "Model T" any more?
The "lap-top" computer was the size of a brief case, was very heavy and had old 1980s technology. It was famous for its high heat, some even setting card tables on fire and burning the legs of its users. The interim version that replaced the lap-top in the early 1990s never had a name, but the Electronic Notebook that replaced both in the mid-to-late 1990s was always and to this day is called an Electronic Notebook or simply, "notebook". The lap-top computer's lifespan was only about 7 to 10 years, so there are none around which function, and I have not seen a lap-top since 1997!
This is as bad as people calling the number zero "oh"; if you use a voice dialer to Washington D.C. saying "area code two-oh-two", that is really 2-6-2!
Tagged with: 10 years • 1980s • area code • baby talk • brief case • card tables • couple decades • early 1990s • electronic notebook • high heat • interim version • lap top computer • legs • lifespan • number zero • portable computer • voice dialer • washington d c
Filed under: Portable Computers
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Actually "laptop" computers ARE still made.
The things the size of a briefcase were "portables"
Slightly smaller is "laptop" such as the XPS model and other "high end, power portable PCs"
Notebooks are the thinner, smaller screened models, generally with less "oomph" and more portability, true "mobile use" machines, while laptops are designed to be used "on a table in multiple locations"
As for saying "oh" for "zero" it's actually perfectly correct to say" oh" and how you equate that to a 6 I don't know. Bear in mind as an American you use a mangled version of English (Look up the pronunciation of "Aluminium" in the oxford english dictionary see how wrong you all get it) Let me see you find an Army seargeant major that shouts at his troops to get up tomorrow ot "Zero Five hunred hours" it's "Oh Five hundred"
READ adverts, sellers still SELL laptops wso it's quite correct to say people use them.
( Rant mode off )
because these 2 terms are interchangeable,
most of the times people are VICTIMS of habits.
My Laptop can beat up your Notebook
Sonny boy, are you off your Prozac again?
-tcw
Because most of the time you when you are on the go you work with it on your lap. Laptop is still commonly used around the world.
we dont call them 'lap-tops'
we call them laptops.
There you go, one grade-a smartass best & correct answer.
My new laptop is a laptop, not a notebook.
Glad we clarified things for you.
LOL, who cares. It shouldn't really be called a notebook either. As far as I knew that was a pad of writing paper!
You would have thought whoever designed that voice recognition system would have allowed for the word 'oh' as 'zero'…..
the same reason the folks in the UK call a vacuum cleaner a hoover !!! Habit
No, the two terms are not interchangeable, and, the laptop is the original item, it is the briefcase sized portable computer, not smaller.
The term "lap-top" is an industry name, just as is the term "electronic notebook" or simply "notebook". It is not a model name or a nick-name. And no, they have not made lap-top computers for almost two decades, they do not exist any longer.
I agree with the first posting by Steven25, that people are mindlessly the victim of habits. But far too many people use words they do not understand, and my question relates to the mental orientation of people who "glom onto" terminology they do not understand… like referring to all computer infections as "viruses" (the correct term for the plural of virus is viri, by the way) when a virus is but one of the three types of computer infections. So my question relates to this inquiry:
Why do people insist on using the term "laptop" when they do not know what a laptop is and are not seeking a true understanding, because manufacturers list their products today as either "electronic notebooks " or "notebooks" or as the smaller "tablet computer" which is smaller than a "notebook"?