Can we get some more specific categories in AskMe than "Computers & Internet?"

July 28, 2005 8:33 PM

Can we get some more specific categories in AskMe than "Computers & Internet?"
posted by Edible Energy to Feature Requests at 8:33 PM (17 comments total)

It's pretty obvious that "Computers & Internet" is insufficient, look at the stats on the sidebar:
clothing, beauty, & fashion (33)
computers & internet (306)
education (27)
food & drink (47)
etc.

It's got more than three times the entries than the closest one.
posted by Edible Energy at 8:35 PM on July 28, 2005

[sic] Two times the entries of runner up, media & arts (131)
posted by Edible Energy at 8:37 PM on July 28, 2005

What would you suggest in its place? (honestly curious)
posted by Rothko at 8:44 PM on July 28, 2005

Computer: Hardware Related
Computer: Software Related
Internet Related
I stuck my peepee in my computer and I can't get it out.

I suspect that the last category will be used more often than we'd all like to imagine.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 8:47 PM on July 28, 2005

Computer: Hardware Related
Computer: Software Related
Internet Related

That last should be:

Internet : Hardware Related
Internet : Software Related
posted by mischief at 9:37 PM on July 28, 2005

Ah, lets not have the 'related' in the category name... Just "Computer Hardware" and "Computer Software" would be fine.

mischief, do you really think internet needs hardware and software? Aren't most 'internet' questions really about web site use and management?



On second thought...
AskMe isn't really supposed to be a support forum, and I think Computer Hardware would still outnumber everything else, so maybe it is best to leave it alone. Not that I object to computer support questions, but there is a difference between objecting and encouraging...
posted by Chuckles at 10:42 PM on July 28, 2005

A lot of the time, people are unable to distinguish between hardware and software as the source of their problems. They may believe they have some hardware issue, when in fact it's merely a matter of configuration. Such fine gradations are likely to be invisible to the average question-asker.

If you really wanted to split it up -- which I think is unnecessary -- I'd say break it into "Computers" and "Internet" and be done with it.
posted by majick at 11:05 PM on July 28, 2005

I'd say break it into "Computers" and "Internet"

Actually, this sounds like a good idea.
posted by ori at 11:34 PM on July 28, 2005

I'd say break it into "Computers" and "Internet"

one more "aye" for this solution. Sounds like a smart way to fork.
posted by menace303 at 1:39 AM on July 29, 2005

What is genuinely gained by this split, and what do people do with technical questions that do not fall neatly into one category? Aren't there more important features needed?
posted by Rothko at 6:29 AM on July 29, 2005

I think this is where the tags come in. New categories are unnecessary.
posted by terrapin at 6:46 AM on July 29, 2005

Yeah, leave it as is. Evenly distributed categorizations simply for the sake of evenly distributed categorizations don't improve the site one iota.
posted by cortex at 7:40 AM on July 29, 2005

I would like an 'Apple / iPod / iBook' tag to make such questions easier for me to ignore.
posted by driveler at 8:27 AM on July 29, 2005

driveler writes "I would like an 'Apple / iPod / iBook' tag to make such questions easier for me to ignore."

Ooh, burn.
posted by OmieWise at 8:34 AM on July 29, 2005

℩
posted by gramschmidt at 8:41 AM on July 29, 2005

I would like an 'Apple / iPod / iBook' tag to make such questions easier for me to ignore.

Truth be told, I'd bet the PC-related problems outnumber the Apple related ones by a large factor. /pc user
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:15 PM on July 29, 2005

Civil_Disobedient writes .."I'd bet the PC-related problems outnumber the Apple related ones by a large factor."
And I'd bet the pc-users outnumber the apple-users by a similarly large factor.
yes, complete guess...
posted by peacay at 3:44 AM on July 30, 2005