RE: Naming NAME fields

["Andrew Warren" <awarren -at- synaptics -dot- com>]

mlist -at- safenet-inc -dot- com wrote:

> "First Name" and "Last Name" are _absolutely_ wrong for a couple
> of billion people on this planet, significant numbers of whom
> have emigrated to your country

    So?  Two lines further down, they'll be asked for "ZIP code";
    in the time since arriving here, they'll presumably have learned
    what THAT means, too.

    You're right; "First" and "Last" aren't the terms used by much
    of the world's population... But since those ARE the terms used
    by the overwhelming majority of people in the US, it would be
    foolish to use any others on forms intended for general use by
    Americans.

> My friend Chu Yin Man is bright enough to figure out either one
> (being second-generation and all), but his barely-english-speaking
> relatives would read _your_ form literally, and type "Chu" (their
> family name) in your "First Name" field, and "Man" in your "Last
> Name" field, and your customers would have all their minimum-wage,
> script-reading, support people trying to contact "Mr. Man" or
> "Mrs. Man".

    Thank goodness!  That experience will be good training for the
    Chus; from it, they'll learn what "First Name" and "Last Name"
    mean in this country, long before they have to fill out any
    IMPORTANT forms that use those terms... Like their income tax
    returns, driver's-license applications, banking documents,
    lease or mortgage agreements, etc.

    -Andrew

=== Andrew Warren  - awarren -at- synaptics -dot- com
=== Synaptics, Inc - Santa Clara, CA
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