Re: 'Blockbuster picks Blu-Ray' - questions

On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:58:45 -0700, moviePig wrote:

On Jul 2, 1:25 am, "Jay G." <J...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:28:23 -0700, moviePig wrote:
On Jun 30, 11:11 pm, "Jay G." <J...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 06:44:26 -0700, moviePig wrote:

Two and three are six.

This is actually a good example of what trotsky wrote, since he essentially
wrote this. Whether or not he *meant* to write "five" instead of "six" is
irrelevant, since the sentence, as written, is incorrect.

Hmm. Is this sentence correct?

"Though others sat near Lincoln, the only one injured was him."

And, later in this post, you've mistakenly typed 'your' for 'you'. Is
that sentence correct?

Assuming the answers (according to you) are 'no', one wonders how
finely the razor cuts. E.g., consider this sentence:

"A deck is comprised of 52 cards."

Is it correct... in view of http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/comprise ?

According to that link, yes.

3 : COMPOSE, CONSTITUTE <about 8 percent of our military forces are
*comprised of* women -- Jimmy Carter>


Vagueness is not a sign of correctness.

Indeed.

In fact, it's the opposite of that.

I have no idea what the opposite of a sign of correctness might be.

A sign of incorrectness.

And defining "software" to mean "prerecorded discs" is *not* a
legitimate interpretation, unless there are specific contextual modifying
qualifiers to the word.

...as indeed there were ...

No, there weren't. Trotsky didn't provide any, and nobody else had used
the word "software" before him. Take into account that I have been
granting him the context of the word "software" being used to describe
video content and its relevant media; I haven't claimed that what he wrote
was inclusive of computer programs. However, that's the *only* context
there was, and since he deemed to bring DVDs and downloads into the
equation, he should've provided the necessary context to either include or
exclude them from his use of the word "software."

There are standard and accepted ways of writing to make oneself understood.
To deviate from those methods is to write a sentence that is incorrect.

And when those rules change (as they do), are previously 'wrong'
writers somehow rehabilitated, and allowed to remove their scarlet
'W'?

I never labeled a *writer* as wrong, just the writing. And the writing, as
of *now*, was incorrect. What hypothetical situation may arise in the
future is irrelevant.

If
we were to abandon the writer's responsibility to have what he writes meet
the reader at least half-way, then we'd literally have nothing but
scratches on a page, or the equivalent of a monkey pounding on keys for
electronic communication.

Of course.

Really? Because agreeing with that statement pretty much means you were
wrong when you wrote:

It's not sentences that are correct or incorrect, but.merely their
interpretations; sentences are but scratches on a page.

Since that statement absolves the writer of *all* responsibility.

But, apart from grammatical nitpicking, this discussion is
about where 'halfway' is ...

The "halfway" point is writing according to the standard and accepted forms
of spelling and grammar, and using the standard and accepted definitions of
words, as well as providing the necessary context. If those are lacking,
one can't fault the reader for misunderstanding.

For example:
sfga tyrwa fgs hjoajkb fjsoujn d apoijfs mdapoiuen d pwajapjd gjklnad
hosgnlh tepusphf shfoh

If you can decipher that sentence in the next 700 years, then I'll concede
the argument.

But, given sufficient background, I perhaps *could* decipher it...

*What* sufficient background?

Trotsky had a
"fact" in mind, and wrote a sentence *he* interpreted as representing
it... though he and we are *always* at the mercy of others'
interpretations and contexts.

Foremost, however, one should be at the mercy of the standard and accepted
forms of spelling, grammar, and writing.

Not in a million years. *Foremost*, one should speak truthfully and
usefully.

"Usefully" being the operative word here. Writing in a way that is
unclear, and in a way contrary to the rules the majority of us use to read
and write, is not useful.

Quite separately, though, you seem to persist that Trotsky's
(momentary) meaning for 'software' (i.e., prerecorded discs) has *no*
validating independent precedent despite our citing of just such
usage.

The only cite your provided showed precisely what trotsky's post lacked,
contextually modifying qualifiers in front of the word "software."

Here's the cited headline (...first thing on the page):

Blu-ray Software Sales Surpass HD-DVD

What qualifiers are you referring to?

The word "Blu-ray" before the word "software." If the headline had said:

Software Sales Surpass HD-DVD

Then that'd be a vague and hard to understand headline, and thus incorrect.
*What* software surpassed HD DVD? DVD software? Digital downloads? *All*
software? The idea of qualifiers is so natural to the way most of us write
that you seem unable to see them when they're right in front of you. It's
those sort of qualifiers that trotsky's post was sorely lacking in.

-Jay
.

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