Why do people keep saying "digital download"?

Discussion in 'General Gaming Discussion' started by war2thegrave, Jun 7, 2013.

  1. war2thegrave
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    war2thegrave GBAtemp Regular

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    I get what people mean when they use that phrase, but...

    Of course it's digital. How else are you going to download it?

    It's like stating "driving car", or "Floating boat", or "music record".

    What was wrong with "downloadable content" or "downloadable game"?
     
    #1 Jun 7, 2013
  2. xist

    xist ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ

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    That's not redundant. Records don't just hold music....much like a music cd is different to an audiobook cd.
     
    #2 Jun 7, 2013
  3. war2thegrave
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    war2thegrave GBAtemp Regular

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    Fair enough.
    Though, I have come across few records that have contained anything other than music.
    Perhaps I should have used "audio record" instead.
     
    #3 Jun 7, 2013
  4. Veho

    Veho The man who cried "Ni".

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    I blame the RAS syndrome.

    No, because "record" can have many meanings: "written record", "dental record", "criminal record", "permanent record", etc. "Audio record" is still not redundant. :)
     
    #4 Jun 7, 2013
  5. Issac

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    Doesn't it come from like:
    "It's a digital game, that you download. A digital, downloadable, game." (as opposed to "analog" cartridges).
    then it was shortened:
    digital downloadable game -> digital download... perhaps?

    EDIT:

    And then it just stuck... just like people saying ATM Machine etc. which also is redundant.
     
    #5 Jun 7, 2013
  6. war2thegrave
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    war2thegrave GBAtemp Regular

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    Cartridges are a digital format as are pretty much any other
    format that commercial games have been released on in the
    last 20 years.
     
    #6 Jun 7, 2013
  7. Issac

    Issac I

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    hence the use of quotation marks
     
    #7 Jun 7, 2013
  8. mechadylan

    mechadylan GBAtemp Advanced Fan

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    Probably legal speak to prevent people from trying to obtain a hard copy of a game simply because they own a downloaded version and therefore a license to play said game.
     
    #8 Jun 7, 2013
  9. Rydian

    Rydian Resident Furvert™

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    Cave Entrance, Watching Cyan Write Letters
    PHP = PHP Hypertext Preprocessor
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    etc.

    technical acronyms wut u doin
     
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    #9 Jun 7, 2013
  10. Pedeadstrian

    Pedeadstrian GBAtemp's Official frill-necked lizard.

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    WoW/any other MMO: Please pst. Aggravates me to no end. I never really minded digital download, probably because it's not using the same word like some acronyms do. But, in regards to your last line, downloadable content can be anything. A walkthrough, a game, porn, etc. Downloadable game is fine, but it's just not catchy, unlike digital download. It's an awesome alliteration.
     
    #10 Jun 7, 2013
  11. Issac

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    Those along with GNU = GNU's Not Unix! & XNA = XNA's Not Acronymed are called recursive acronyms :)
     
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    #11 Jun 8, 2013
  12. DiabloStorm

    DiabloStorm Five Gold Star Medalist

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    I physically download my games, and let me tell you, it's painful.
     
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    #12 Jun 8, 2013
  13. ShadowSoldier

    ShadowSoldier GBAtemp Guru

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    ...EoF material?
     
    #13 Jun 8, 2013
  14. Vappy

    Vappy GBAtemp Advanced Maniac

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    Clearly it's to distinguish from analog download.
     
    #14 Jun 8, 2013
  15. Taleweaver

    Taleweaver Storywriter

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    Damnit...I wanted to be the one to say that! :(


    But yeah...as Veho mentioned: it's sort of the same as the RAS syndrome. Though not an acronym (e.g.: HIV-virus = Human Immunodeficiency Virus ... Virus), I think this phrase is still something used by the same people who don't exactly know their shit (kind of similar to how often I hear that it's okay to surf the web, provided you don't download anything).
     
    #15 Jun 8, 2013
  16. narutofan777

    narutofan777 GBAtemp Advanced Fan

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    becuz u download it from the internet? :blink:
     
    #16 Jun 9, 2013
  17. Veho

    Veho The man who cried "Ni".

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    And why do we call it "digital distribution"? Aren't DVDs digital?

    [​IMG]


    :ha:
     
    #17 Jun 9, 2013
  18. JoostinOnline

    JoostinOnline Certified Crash Test Dummy

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    Lol, so did I!

    Edit: It's the same reasons that people keep calling the System Menu firmware on the Wii. Because everybody else does it, and because people don't understand what they are talking about.
     
    #18 Jun 9, 2013
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