Re: Strong Evidence for the Name vs. Location Distinction

> Similarly, the string 'http://site.org/resource-i-want' looks exactly like
> an address. So why call it a name? Why confuse things so much?

I've got the Google toolbar on my browser, and just love it.  I use the
"I'm Feeling Lucky" button often, which if you're not familiar with it,
automatically redirects you to the top Google response for your query.
If I enter "norm walsh" as my query term, and hit that button, I'm
immediately taken to http://nwalsh.com/

Is "norm walsh" an address or a name?  You use it the same way you use
your address bar.  You can even enter a URI into it.  In fact, you could
replace your address bar entirely, if you don't mind taking the hop to
google.com.  IE and the Yahoo Companion IE plugin also accept query
terms in the address bar too; they redirect them to their own search
engines to produce a similar result to the Google toolbar.

IMO, "name" and "address" are too roles that identifiers play.  Those
identifiers that do not *currently* have a resolution mechanism, will
only be usable as names.  But as soon as a resolution mechanism is
devised, they can also be used as locators/addresses.

MB
-- 
Mark Baker, Chief Science Officer, Planetfred, Inc.
Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.      mbaker@planetfred.com
http://www.markbaker.ca   http://www.planetfred.com

Received on Tuesday, 19 March 2002 14:23:21 UTC