What this usage pattern is really doing is using search as an extra semantic layer on top of DNS.
It could be for any number of reasons - ignorance of the differences, or as typo checking, or as an intentional shortcut for a cumbersome url like ycombinator. But the usage pattern has turned out to be quite valuable, to have that layer of semantic processing in navigation, free from the rigid technical and structural constraints of DNS.
The regrettable part is when that semantic layer guesses wrong on some input, wrong being defined as something other than the user's intent. That's an abstraction leak, which as always you can't make up for unless you understand the underlying abstraction.
That the implementation of semantic navigation ended up piggybacked on search might be a bit weird. Maybe it could have been done something like AOL Keywords. But unexpected piggybacking in technology certainly does happen, like when our calculators ended up riding along on our pocket telephones.
It could be for any number of reasons - ignorance of the differences, or as typo checking, or as an intentional shortcut for a cumbersome url like ycombinator. But the usage pattern has turned out to be quite valuable, to have that layer of semantic processing in navigation, free from the rigid technical and structural constraints of DNS.
The regrettable part is when that semantic layer guesses wrong on some input, wrong being defined as something other than the user's intent. That's an abstraction leak, which as always you can't make up for unless you understand the underlying abstraction.
That the implementation of semantic navigation ended up piggybacked on search might be a bit weird. Maybe it could have been done something like AOL Keywords. But unexpected piggybacking in technology certainly does happen, like when our calculators ended up riding along on our pocket telephones.