Re: where do so many tenses come from?

"António" == António Marques <m.ap@xxxxxxx> writes:

>> But I still like using instant messaging (ICQ, Yahoo Messenger,
>> etc.) to chat with them.

António> Is that your medium of choice while in the same room with
António> your friends?

Your question is too general to answer.

It depends on what room it is. e.g. in a library where everyone is
expected to keep quiet, I'd definitely prefer IM to opening the mouth.
If the room is so noisy that I have to shout to be heard clearly, I'd
also prefer IM.

It also depends on the information to be communicated. If it is some
"secret" that I don't want others to get, I'd use IM instead of
speaking. If it's an error message, same code fragment or a unix
command, then it is more accurate and clear to type it than to say it.



António> Of course, the CLI would have to be adapted.
>> No problem. I prefer CLI to GUI.

António> There you go again! What's 'no problem' with the CLI
António> having to be adapted? I meant that, to be used with
António> voice, some things should be adapted ('rm -rf /' is
António> clumsy to prounouce, but alternatives are easy to find,
António> 'copy'/'move' being easier to pronounce than 'cp'/'mv',
António> but care must be taken to eliminate homophones), or some
António> conventions could be made ('slash' for / and 'dash' for -
António> seem too heavy). -- am

You've hit the nail on the head! For *symbolic* information, it is
more direct to write/type than to say. I can write a very complex
mathematical formula easily and accurately. (e.g. the definition of
the Beta function, involving an integral.) To say it with the mouth
is very very hard and error-prone (I have to make sure the listener
understands the terms, at least).


--
Lee Sau Dan 李守敦 ~{@nJX6X~}

E-mail: danlee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee
.