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arkadianriver |
| < Back and Next > |
04:31 pm |
Okay, here's a nit. Have you ever wondered about those standard software wizard buttons: Back and Next? If you're an editor, you've surely spent hours discussing them with your peers over email and many cups of tea.
Back is a noun, a place, but Next is an adjective, modifying the understood Page or Action. The opposite of Back is Forward, right? I go back and I go forward. I don't go next. And, the opposite of Next is Previous, right?
So why the mismatched choice of Back and Next?
- Maybe it's a layout thing. The balance of two four letter words looks nice (in English at least).
- Maybe usability testing revealed that Back is a more intuitive and natural word than the fairly high-fallutin' word Previous. After all, we're American, not English.
- Or maybe the original programmer who came up with it didn't give much thought to grammar, it slips past the QA team to ship with the product, and as the wizard is born these words Back and Next simply become a natural pairing.
I don't know the answer. A 10 minute web search yielded nothing for me. That's probably about all the time this trivial history is worth, plus the time spent writing this pointless blog entry. But I am still curious.
I wouldn't be surprised if it were the third reason, but I'd place my bets on the second. After all, if it's a choice between grammar rules and making your audience feel more comfortable, I know which one I'd choose.
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Comments:
| [Anonymous] |
| Sep. 16th, 2006 - 12:05 pm | | |
I always thought of it as a database thing. Next record, or back to a record and that concept just carried on like that. So now you have Back or Next.
Inca Runner 6 |
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| arkadianriver |
| Sep. 19th, 2006 - 10:38 am | | |
The database world.. hmm. I did a google search on "database 'next record' back" and the first result was from Microsoft Access. They have 'Next record' and 'Previous record'. So, it seems they are grammatically correct in the Access world, at least.
There is the database concept of 'rollback', when you want to undo a transaction before you 'commit' it. Could that be where it came from? But that's more like 'Cancel'. Hmm, 'tis a puzzle.
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| [Anonymous] |
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Back and Next | Sep. 28th, 2006 - 01:05 pm | | |
Maybe who ever did this first was drunk and stoned, and since they were incoherent the "right grammer" was not a factor in the decision. Maybe it was joke to bug the grammer police or tech writers.
Inca Runner 6 |
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| arkadianriver |
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Re: Back and Next | Sep. 30th, 2006 - 04:39 pm | | | |
Ya, I like that one. heh. If only the world could be so laid-back. (or is it layed back? lied back? No, lyed back. Oh, shyte, who cares.) |
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| [Anonymous] |
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Hi!! | Oct. 7th, 2006 - 05:41 pm | | | |
This is Christina. I got the dvd! ^_^ ty!! I have a blog now too, the link is http://sayuricastle.blogspot.com enjoy! love ya |
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| [Anonymous] |
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ibm think pad | Oct. 8th, 2006 - 12:17 pm | | |
I need to buy a motherboard for a think-pad, where do I buy it?
Inca Runner |
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| arkadianriver |
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Re: ibm think pad | Oct. 9th, 2006 - 04:47 pm | | |
Is it the one you just got last year? If so, call 1-888-IBM-SERV so they can fix it for you. Or, go to http://www.ibm.com/support/us/ and enter the model number. (You might need to go to www.lenovo.com if that doesn't work.)
If it's another older model, I'd google the model number + motherboard and see.
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| [Anonymous] |
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I know which one I'd chose too | Oct. 8th, 2006 - 05:34 pm | | | |
I'd chose the one most comfortable. ^_^ I bet you chose that one too. xP |
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