All but one (WLAN) of these acronyms has at least 50% shorter keystrokes than their equivilant meanings. That is why they are pupular on the internet. (Although, I admit MFP is pretty darn cryptic.)

Some of these acronyms can go, but CPU means a specific processor in the computer, not just any of the many a computer has. RAM is a specific type of memory also, not just any old computer memory. Anyway, in SUV-crazy America, acronyms a here to stay.

Is WiFi any better than WLAN?

It's just modern Latin. The fact that it's cryptic is exactly the point.

A chance to measure the tech IQ of the person you are talking to, flaunt your own, and keep laypeople confused is too attractive to avoid.

I'll agree that "techies" are extreme in the pursuit opacity-and then they wonder why their field is "misunderstood" by the general public.

It's just modern Latin. The fact that it's cryptic is exactly the point.

A chance to measure the tech IQ of the person you are talking to, flaunt your own, and keep laypeople confused is too attractive to avoid.

I'll agree that "techies" are extreme in the pursuit opacity-and then they wonder why their field is "misunderstood" by the general public.

It's just modern Latin. The fact that it's cryptic is exactly the point.

A chance to measure the tech IQ of the person you are talking to, flaunt your own, and keep laypeople confused is too attractive to avoid.

I'll agree that "techies" are extreme in the pursuit opacity-and then they wonder why their field is "misunderstood" by the general public.

When people ask me what 'POP' stands for I reply 'piece of piss'..because it doesn't matter one jot that it really stands for 'post office protocol'.

But RAM and memory are not the same. There is memory on the video card and memory on the CPU which are not considered RAM.

And how many processors other than the CPU are there in a PC?

Perhaps making up new words (acronymize) doesn't help your case!

Anyway, I don't have much of a problem with abbreviations. Usually when I don't know the abbreviation, I'm not well versed in the subject and am probably happier that way.

Very good point, Rob...

I for one, switched from Windows-based PCs to Macs in early 2005, and find it utterly rediculous how many people spell Mac in all caps when referring to a Macintosh computer. Would you write your name as ROB and expect the same meaning? Of course not, so why do people write Mac as MAC? I'll answer that in a moment.

Two common examples of acronyms include "laser" and "radar." As acronyms, they should be written in all lower case normally, except where emphasis is otherwise required, which merely makes them an initialism, which is a form of acronym whereby the letters do not necessarilly create a pronouncable word. Just to be concise, the definitions of laser and radar are (initials used in acronym are capitalised) "Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation" and "RAdio Detection And Ranging" respectively. If laser or radar were tradenames (which they definitively are not), then they would by very definition become proper nouns, and should then, and only then be written with a capitalised first letter.

So, going back to Rob's example, which of the following sentences are incorrect?

I like my Mac.

I like my mac.

I like my MAC.

Answer: None. The first sentence's usage of "Mac," written as a proper noun definitively refers to the Macintosh computer as either an abbreviation or nick-name, and as such should be written only as such. The second sentence's usage of "mac" and the third sentence's use of "MAC," written as both an acronym and an itialism (which is a type of acronym incidentally) are equally correct, except they definitively refer to the acronym of Media Access Control, which is a technology used in networking, and is most commonly seen prepending the word address as "MAC address," which is the theoretically unique hardware address of all network devices used on an ethernet (and some other) network.

So, what is the answer to why some people write Mac as MAC? Well, since so many people were in diapers when the Mac revolutionised the computer industry with the first consumer affordable commercial application of both the graphical user interface and the mouse, but was not successful in the already predominantly PC based corporate environments, which leveraged their investments in PCs by adopting Windows which ran on them, rather than buy all new hardware to run the superior (both in the late '80s through the early '90s, and again today, Mac OS, the Simple answer is: Ignornance.

The writer has forgotten mac is short for macintosh

Ethernet should be capitalized (since we're picking nits).

Wish someone would come up with a layperson equivalent for RSS.

Wish someone would come up with a layperson equivalent for RSS.

@carl s
We could call it "Really Simple Syndication"

While we're on mail protocol names, "IMAP" is useless even when you expand it.

I am currently participating in what my contractor calls "VRV testing," for "version release verification." Apparently, "new release testing" is not acronymic enough.

"PMP" is useless as an acronym but funny when you ask people about what their certification means and they pronounce it as "pimp" and then wither under the fusillade of jokes I launch at them. Or maybe that's just me.

Can we get rid of "WaPo"?

The reason I use 'MAC' instead of 'mac' is that I chat with many people from around the world on various internet forums. If I said "Darn, I spilled coffee on my mac this morning and messed it up!...," some readers from the UK might think I was being overly sensitive about having stained my raincoat; when in fact, spilling a hot liquid on a PowerBook G4 keyboard is equivalent to the kiss of death. The simple fact is: 'MAC' is used throughout the whole world to mean one thing only in normal context usage, ...an Apple computer!!!

I've always liked PCMCIA, which stands for People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms.