The metaphorical and symbolical representations on the screen provide the user with an interface that enables operating the machine, yet at the same time it channels attention away from the machinery.

— Marianne van den Boomen in Transcoding the Digital: How Metaphors Matter in New Media

The Tech-Metaphor Glossary is a website and growing directory of words we use to describe technology that refer to things or actions in the real world.

When talking about tech, we often borrow from real life. This is true in interfaces where we interact with files, folders, windows, buttons and menus, as well as in computing and networking, where we use terms like firewall, cloud, server/serving, hosting etc. These metaphors are helpful, but can also obscure: On the one hand, they help us make something inherently abstract more tangible. On the other hand they are never neutral, betray biases and run the risk of oversimplification.

The shortcomings of the term cloud, for example, have been discussed at length. Another example is the file / folder structure we use to navigate data. While this is very helpful when trying to find things, it also relates everything we do on a computer to office work—there is no reason, after all, to store a song in a folder. In the words of Marianne van den Boomen, the screen shows, but it also hides.

I've been interested in these words for a while, so I decided to start collecting them in an incomplete Obsidian Vault. Let me know if you would like to contribute to this project!