Except that clip isn't shorthand for magazine,

It actually is, and has been for a long time in the oxford and webster dictionaries.

it refers to a totally different form of ammunition loading and we are not writing the book with 2070 english, it needs to be understood by 2015 people.

I think literally anyone who hears the someone say "Toss me a clip" knows exactly what you are saying, which is why, again, it is now considered Synonym in the dictionary.

It was not a deliberate choice. It's been that way since the game was written and heavily influenced by 80s action movies when the authors did not know any better.

I am aware it has been around for a long time. However back then it wasn't just the authors who didn't care. No one cared. And to be super blunt most people still don't care.

You and the game are free to call whatever you want anything you like. The item has a specific noun to it. If you want to call it something other than its actual name go ahead but those who know better will likely cringe, like me.

"Clip, Noun, a metal holder containing cartridges for an automatic firearm. Synonyms: Magazine"

You also realize there is no modern day clip fed weapons right? Since the magazine is a superior feeding system. I can't even think of one made after ww2. Perhaps an odd crew weapon maybe.

There were actually a few clip fed loading systems in SR. The old Yamaha Sakura Fubuki comes to mind, loosely based on the metal storm concept but the bullets weren't worked into the barrel and instead were stacked behind it with a clip. That is why I mentioned it does make sense to use an outdated by your own definition ridgid distinction in the 2070's.

If the authors back in 1st/2nd ed of the game started saying a cyber decks RAM was is processing speed and the cpu was it's memory you all would have had a fit. Especially if someone came by and told you it wasn't a big deal and in 40 years everyone will just call cpus RAM anyway so it was a deliberate and good choice.

The difference here is that calling a magazine is not wrong. Not to most of the population. Here is Miriam Webster's definition of clip literally using magazine and here is the Oxford English Dictionary.

A more accurate comparison would be people complaining that magnification and zoom are used interchangeably by the book despite being totally different things not even related to each other. You wouldn't know this unless you know a lot about the technical aspects of optics, but even if you do it would be extremely pedantic to expect people to care. Or even better, it would be getting upset becuase most double action firearms are not actually double action, but no one cares about that to the point the double action firearm's actual technical meaning has changed.

To almost everyone they are the same thing. English is not a dead language, words mean what people understand them to mean, and most people understand clip and magazine to mean the same thing.