Jon Udell on how the programming-aware mindset affects other tasks:

Most people, to this day, prefer to convey files using email attachments rather than URLs. Over the years I've tried, and mostly failed, to explain why and how to use the URL-oriented approach. Programmers do this naturally, because programmers know the difference between transmission of data by value and transmission of data by reference. But almost nobody else does.

I've long understood that part of the problem was that most people didn't have easy access to web storage, and weren't in a position to upload a file whose URL could then be transmitted as a convenient proxy for the file itself. But that's changing. Lately I'm seeing lots of people who can upload to web storage, using various methods that are easy for them to understand and apply. What's still not easy for most people to understand and apply, though, is the method of using an URL to accomplish file transfer.

What a cool analogy.

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