The Picard Maneuver
The clues were right in front of us.
Feb 4 at 2:43pmWeb
Show threadceenoteFeb 4
Didnt they actually switch to “This PC” like a decade ago?
Show threadmarcosFeb 4
Well, they started with enshitification a few years after getting the MS Basic contract with IBM… So yeah, the switch to “This PC” was about 3 decades too late.
Show threadjayboneFeb 4
They started with the enshittification of the thing, before the thing was a thing.
Show threadatomicbocksFeb 4
I feel like I remember a transition step. Like it was just Computer or something for one version.
Show threadGeneralEmergencyFeb 4

Shhh.

Let the tech illiterate Linux bros have their circle jerk.

Show threadceenoteFeb 4

I’m not a Linux user but even I think “tech illiterate Linux bro” is a silly thing to say.

Though I will say the My Computer to This PC switch was probably more due to the “you have multiple devices” dynamic than the “you will own nothing” dynamic.

Show threadZorsithFeb 4
In an age of multi-computer households and more complex home networks, this change made sense IMO.
Show threadSynapseFeb 4
Also, it’s showing a computer screen and not an actual computer, at least not clearly. Anyway, I’m in the clear, Gnome doesn’t have desktop icons.
Show threadKlearFeb 4

This is dumb. I’m currently sitting at a computer at work. It’s not my computer. It’s not even my workstation at all times, who sits where depends on how the shifts work out each day. “This computer” is a more general expression which encompasses “My computer”, one which is more correct in many cases and slighly less precise in the case of your computer at home.

It makes perfect sense in a world where it’s common for people to use a computer they do not own. The former designation didn’t. Hence the change.

And guess what? If you really care, you can rename it to whatever you want.

Show threadNurse_RobotFeb 4
Sir this is a meme community
Show threadKlearFeb 4
I’m not calling for the post to be removed for misinformation. I’m calling a meme dumb.
Show threadlagoon8622Feb 6
The meme isn’t about what words are under the trash can
Show threadTheTechnician27Feb 4

Yeah, this is on the level of those conspiracy theories that insist the Illuminati or whatever are constantly leaving enciphered clues about their existence in plain sight for no practical reason except so that Dave can post about it online after a long day at AutoZone.

As an added bonus, “This PC” is more concise in terms of character count and syllables – which actually is pertinent for something that might get namedropped a million times a day.

Show threadSunforgedFeb 4
“My PC” is shorter. Checkmate.
Show threadTheTechnician27Feb 4
Well except “no” because the shortening is just an added bonus from the main benefit which is to make it generally more accurate. “My PC” unfixes it.
Show threadjayboneFeb 4
lol what’s with the dig at AutoZone?
Show threadTheTechnician27Feb 4
AutoZone fucked my dad. (It’s the first retail estblishment that came to mind.)
Show threadmintiefreshFeb 4
Wait til the vibe coders add an emoji to the name.
Show threadGrailFeb 4

I actually hate any technology that steals the user’s first person pronouns. You are not Me, do not speak for Me. You may be My computer, but you are not allowed to call yourself “My Computer” as though you are Me.

Also if someone uses any first person neopronouns other than Mine, this thing is going to misgender them and I think that’s a serious concern.

Show threadlemsipFeb 6
‘My’ is neutrally ungendered.
You can’t misgender someone by not stating their gender.
Show threadGrailFeb 6
Very well, I edited it to say “degender” rather than “misgender”, but “degender” is a very niche word and I worry that you’ve made My comment less clear for the sake of pointless semantics.
Show threadlemsipFeb 6

I meant that using either non-gendered or gender-neutral pronouns should be fine and not considered as misgendering or degendering the user.

Deliberately misgendering/degendering somebody after knowing their pronouns is definitely an issue, but I feel like defaulting to something that applies to probably >99% of the population is ok if you don’t know the person’s preferred pronouns.

Show threadGrailFeb 6
In situations where a pronoun is grammatically appropriate I agree, but I don’t think apps should be using a user’s first person pronouns for them in the first place, so they’re just asking for the trouble. It’s their fault for flying too close to the sun.
Show threadTrickDacyFeb 4

Interesting how seriously people itt are taking this. Obviously it’s not very likely the change was specifically to warm you up to losing ownership of your computer, although it’s also not entirely impossible that kind of culture at Microsoft contributed to the decision subconsciously.

It’s a meme. Seems like Peter Griffin’s presence here would indicate we’re not really making a claim about a real conspiracy…

Show threadFeydFeb 4
Just like changing “personnel” to “human resources” was benign, amirite
Show threadMeatPilotFeb 4
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Show threadMeatPilotFeb 4
Show threadjayboneFeb 4
Should change the sickle to the Amazon logo.
Show threadBrave Little Hitachi WandFeb 4
Don’t be gross
Show threadinfinitesunriseFeb 4
I actually always thought that the mid-aughts trend of putting “My” in front of everything to make it feel personalized was really bizarre, considering that you weren’t ever the person labeling it that. Some developer or marketer you never met named it that. It always annoyed me when my icons started getting relabeled with names that a boomer grandpa might put on them, felt really pandery. Prior to the “My” trend, “My Computer” was just “Computer”.
Show threadEy ich frag doch nurFeb 4
Tho MySpace has never been space
Show threadjayboneFeb 4

Didn’t “My Computer” exist since like Windows 95 or so?

Also back when it was first introduced I heard some explanation that people were expected to rename it using their actual name. So something like “Joe’s Computer.” Though I don’t think anyone really did that in practice, which just resulted in everyone always having the “My Computer” icon on their windows desktop and it became the norm.

Show threadinfinitesunriseFeb 4
Yes, Win95 called it My Computer, but at the time it was maybe the only GUI to do that. I remember the trend really kicked off in the early aughts with MySimon and their advertising campaign. Then all of a sudden every header in the OS got the word “My” tacked on.
Show threadjayboneFeb 4
What do you mean header in the OS? Like .h files? I haven’t seen this.
Show threadinfinitesunriseFeb 4
No like textual headers of windows and settings sections. Shit like “My Settings”.
Show threadMonkderVierteFeb 4
Is that even still possible?
Show threadjayboneFeb 4
I would think not. But I’m a tech illiterate Linux user who hasn’t used windows in 20+ years.
Show threadMonkderVierteFeb 4
Looks like it’s coupled with the computers hostname now. Configured with the Run command sysdm.cpl. Classic Windows.
Show threadjayboneFeb 4
I kind of think this might have all been the original vision of some small group of engineers. Like on the network you might see “Joe’s Computer” and “Jane’s Computer” and “Bob’s Printer”. But that vision all got lost in the larger Microsoft macrocosm between how they handle host names and networking and their SMB protocol, and their installers not properly renaming that stupid desktop icon. And ultimately we ended up with the ubiquitous My Computer everywhere.
Show threadAlexstarfireFeb 5

I’m a tech illiterate Linux user

My brain:

Show threadjayboneFeb 5
Someone else posted that somewhere in this thread. I’m on my phone and can’t be bothered to look it up.
Show threadrelativestrangerFeb 6
you can actually still do that! enable the desktop icon for ‘computer’ in settings->personalisation->themes->desktop icon settings, then go to that icon on the desktop and right click it and rename. although i have gotten used to win11’s ‘user files’ one with quick access and recent and use that one instead—when it works, anyway (right now it is not)
Show threadmarcosFeb 4
Windows is more than a decade older than Windows 95.
Show thread🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 Feb 4
Yeah, but “My Computer” was not a thing in the earliest versions of Windows. “My Computer” came with Windows 95.
Show threadjayboneFeb 4
But I didn’t think previous versions had the My Computer icon. I could be wrong, but that was certainly when I started noticing it.
Show thread☂️-Feb 4
“sideloading”
Show threaddejected_warp_coreFeb 4
When someone had to explain that “sideloading” meant “run whatever you want on your device”, I knew right then we were in trouble.
Show threadbridgeenjoyerFeb 4

I still stand by saying PM. DM is dungeon master ffs!!

Although, its not private in any way, ha

Show threadpotoooooooo ✅️Feb 5
Idk definitely lots of privates in my DMs.
Show threadDoucheBagMcSwagFeb 4

private messages.

Remember when PM went to DM overnight?

Show threadistdaslolFeb 4
If you ever encountered an User you know Microsoft was just fed up with people calling confusing „my computer“ as their personal PC and thinking they can remote access theirs by clicking it on every device
Show threadguldukatFeb 5
I was tech support for a little while, people really are this stupid.
Show thread🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 Feb 4
This is why I don’t understand why Lemmy hates cloud computing. It’s like the communism of computing! “My PC” becomes “Our PC.”
Show threadZinkFeb 4
It’s not the technology running on the PC that people have a problem with. It’s the owner of that PC.
Show threadboogieboredFeb 5
No it’s their pc
Show threadRiversideFeb 5
I don’t think most people here have any problem with collectively owned computing such as torrenting or SETI@home
Show threadSUPER SAIYANFeb 5

Nice try

lemmy.world/post/42382934

So this is why they changed it - Lemmy.World

Lemmy

Show threadThe Picard ManeuverFeb 5
Argh, sorry!
Show threadSSTFFeb 6

I’m pretty sure this is actually my exact crop of the meme (I cropped out an ugly ifunny logo).

lemmy.world/post/41780741

But you know, I stole it from somewhere else anyways.

Cloud saving huh? - Lemmy.World

Lemmy