Re-fresh, to become fresh again. It implies that it was fresh before.
So this doesn’t apply to fruit and vegetables, or other food for that matter. I certainly don’t want to eat fruit that’s been refreshed. Because it means that it was fresh, then it became un-fresh, and now needs to be refreshed so it can be eaten.
So what can be safely refreshed?
Hmmm…nothing actually.
Something is either fresh or not, like computers…
Computer system “refresh” myths
"Adapting old programs to fit new machines usually means adapting new machines to behave like old ones." — Alan J. Perlis
Computer systems are often “refreshed” when it is too expensive to buy or develop a new one. Parts of it are “reused” so that the system can be “refreshed”. The effort, risk and stress of “refreshing” a system is so high that it is better to just get a new one.
It takes less time because you don’t have make old technology fit into new patterns and methods, and it will turn out cheaper. The technical debt and features users hate will still be there and at the end of the day you still have an old system that at some point is going to have to be “retired” to make way for a new fresh system.
At best it buys you a couple of years out of your depreciation cycle. At worst by the time the “refresh” is completed it is time to “retire” it to make way for the new one.
So just get a new one at the outset and don’t waste time with “refreshing”.
All those “…” – I know…I know…
Computer screen “refresh”myths
“Just refresh your display, the field you want will be right there.”
It’s like rebooting your computer when it freezes, crashes or an application doesn’t want to open. Rebooting is the answer to everything.
Yeah right!
With our uber-fast internet speeds (in my neck of the woods), refreshing screens to fix a glitch is like rebooting your computer that has stopped working and expect it to work again. Slow pixelated bands of colour will appear on the screen, while you wait for it to refresh. When it’s done the information on the screen is no longer fresh and I’ve usually moved on to reading a book. Or hand-writing a blog post.
Don’t get me wrong – I love technology and more often than not am an early-adopter. I’ve worked in software development for over a decade, I know how these things go.
I suppose one can feel refreshed after drinking a beer on a hot day, and having a shower after a long day at the office. Or running a marathon. Maybe a massage is better for this last one. One can have a power nap and wake up refreshed.
