In the past few decades, the rapid development of Information Technologies (IT) has changed the primary meanings of many words, leaving the older population confused but creating a new, technically literate generation. IT plays a key role in modernizing our lives, which requires plenty of metaphors to make powerful and memorable connections.
While some words get resurrected for a new life as IT terms, there’s also a lot of competition when both terms remain relevant. Of course, these double agents make sense in the right context. Understanding such metaphors may be necessary to benefit from tech vocabulary but knowing their origins can give you a better insight into IT development and its effects on our language.
In this article, we will address a few words out of a tech vocabulary that used to have different meanings. Knowing their past and comparing their role in IT should help you improve your technical literacy and benefit from the given tools in the future.
Why do I need a server if I am not in a restaurant? Why do I have to accept cookies, but I cannot eat them? I cannot cooperate with a proxy provider if I do not know what an internet proxy is! If you have a latter problem, we recommend checking out Smartproxy – a proxy provider that can provide great deals and assistance to beginners, but for now, let’s take a deeper look at tech terms that keep growing in relevance.
A server that does not serve food
Even if most of you are more familiar with the term “waiter”, a server is a common, gender-neutral word that is used to describe a person serving food. However, if we talk about servers in a technical context, the meaning becomes far more significant.
Unfortunately, we might disappoint you, but the correlation between the term’s meanings is a bit anticlimactic, but an important one. Servers are computer systems that store and send packets of data at the request of a user, also known as a client. Depending on their usage and load, even multiple servers can run on one personal computer. However, when we look at tech company giants, social media platforms, their servers require gigantic rooms filled with machines that can withstand such a high demand of requests and storage.
There are also proxy servers – the middlemen through which we can anonymize our connection to the internet. They have different types and sources of origin, but the most reliable servers come from a proxy provider. Keep reading if you want to learn more about proxies.
What are you browsing for?
In the past, the term browsing was a synonym for searching, looking, and even scavenging. Animals were seen as browsers of the forest, and interested customers browsed for clothes in the mall. A scarcely used term is a great example of how a tech metaphor can overpower the original meaning of the word.
Today, web browsers are tools that help us seek out information on the internet. Because most internet users see them as the door to the web, browsers get a lot of customizable features that improve our experience and even aid us in other related tasks. Browsers are far more complex tools than most internet users realize, and further developments often make us give up privacy for convenience without our knowledge.
Even if you cannot find the web address, the browser will redirect your request to a search engine that helps us find the desired information in a matter of seconds. When we have such powerful browsers on our side, other forms of browsing become irrelevant.
Proxies – from a representative to a crucial privacy tool
Proxies used to be persons and organizations authorized to represent an entity in some form of activity. Individuals that cannot vote by themselves can delegate a proxy that will fulfill their wishes. Some choose to send a proxy to a board of directors meeting with given instructions.
However, if you google the meaning of the word today, everyone refers to proxies as intermediary servers that forward your internet traffic under a different IP address. Good, legitimate proxies come from a proxy provider that tailors server parameters to satisfy the needs of many clients.
Because some internet users get blocked from accessing web servers, a good proxy provider has many business clients that need protection for their online activities.
The internet is full of free proxy servers, but because the operating entity can see your traffic, they are often set up by cybercriminals that steal sensitive user information. Use only legitimate web proxies from a proxy provider to avoid data theft!
Here we IT terms that play a large role in our digital environment. While knowing some metaphors may only help you improve tech vocabulary. some tools overspill and affect so many fields that it would be impractical to not expand your knowledge.
