suzmccarth wrote:

>
> But do you have to type the http part?


> But not the http bit - it just pops up on
> its own, unbidden.

Depends on the browser and the first part of the rest of the url. Some
browsers might assume it, some not.

Also be aware, that secure pages are "https". I just set up a server
that has only secure pages, so has no http responses whether you type it
or not :)

Also, not all URLs even refer to web pages, more commonly seen ones
include: ftp://, mail://, aim://, about:// and probably more - this is
hardly exhaustive.

So the answer is "it depends", but eventually, yes, you will have to
type it for some URL.

> I didn't know that. I heard
> someone else teasing a prof about how she always uses google instead
> of the URL. I said "URL?" Then I tried out the expression 'URL' at
> school and the teachers said "Get lost - don't give us any computer
> jargon."

I imagine the same thing happened with autombiles 100 years ago, when
driving was more of a relationship with your vehicle in keeping it going :)

But eventually the autos improved, at the same time those people faded
away (OK, "died"), and so will happen with internet terminology.
Generatins down the road your story, while accurate today, will seem as
quaint as the end of the buggy-whip era do today, of that I am confident.

> Then we made our website and put all the links on
> that. If it isn't already on our website and you can't google it,
> then it might as well not exist.
>
> This is quite a fascinating discussion - I always thought I was
> pretty normal in the computer realm, for a non technical person.

Maybe - which is why I am interested too - it helps me communicate
better in that realm. I agree that for some (maybe even many) the url
might as wll be gibberish. Not sure if that is a good thing or not yet.
It is an open questin in the web usability community. Just like our Vai
discussions, there is a split between opitmizing for users who don't
care or never will care, and ones who do care. The former would go so
far as to say that browsers shouldn't have a place where you can type a
url available by default, the latter the opposite. Something of a
religious war, as we say in the industry.

Can I ask a favor? Can you note the url in the browser and you browse
around to various pages and take a look at the parts which seem
surprising, mysterious, unexpected, etc.? Technically speaking, the URL
is the entire string, not just the part with the protocol and domain name.


Best,

Barry