You say MODE-EM, I say Modem

[Mailing List Account for Jason Runyan]

David Holland wrote:
> Funny thing happened today after reading these posts.  I installed
> RoadRunner business class at a customers house.  I had some trouble
> getting connected and had to call their tech support.  I talked to 3
> techs and they called it a "Cable Router" rather than a cable modem.
> Perhaps the tide is changing?
> 

Router is close, but it really is a bridge.  All it is doing is using 
one medium to bridge you onto another.  Its not routing anything.
> 
>>Emulates an Ethernet or PPP connection over DSL makes sense.   
>>I personally don't buy the "Modulator-Demodulator" construction - I 
>>think it's
>>apocryphal, but it's pretty universally accepted now.  I just can't

Geeks didn't create modems, engineers did, and Modulate-demodulate is 
expressly what the modems did, and so that is what it got called. 
Besides marketing guys get more than there 2 cents when it comes to 
naming products.  If you haven't ever worked with electrical engineers, 
then someday you are in for a treat.  They are a whole breed all their 
own.  They have never been touched by their jobs being cosidered cool or 
cutting edge.  The pop culture has not embraced and retarded their 
lingo.  Yet they are most notably some of the most intelligent folks I 
have ever worked with.