An interesting observation that has always fascinated me: it is only in software industry and drugs industry where we refer to customers as "Users". I don't know of any other.
For instance, we talk of "User Acceptance Testing" as opposed to "Customer Acceptance Testing" when referring to final software acceptance testing.
What are the origins of this?
Best Answer
It's an amusing point. As others have noted, in the computer industry the "customer" and the "user" are often not the same person, so we need different terms for them. Of course this is true of many other industries, too. But I think most other industries have more specific words. The person who buys a car is generally referred to as a "customer", but anyone who uses it is called a "driver". Likewise in the publishing industry someone who buys a book or magazine is a "customer", but someone who uses the book is a "reader". The appliance industry does talk about "appliance users". Maybe there are other cases.
Maybe the distinction is more pronounced in the computer business because customers and users are more distinct than in most industries. The customer is usually upper management; the users are usually clerical workers. Well, I suppose you could say the same about many products that are typically sold to businesses. Like, the person who buys a forklift truck probably isn't the person who drives it.
I think this is more an "additional musing" than an "answer". Whatever.