Life blog

Tired words: Technology

Haven't had many tired words lately (though I have had my overload of tired other-things). This one comes from an event I was at where it was way overused.

Technology - I am finding myself less and less a technologist and more and more a story person. I'm not an idiot (you can argue, if you want), I do know my tech. But, I spend more of my time searching for the story behind the solution - how is something used or hacked (as in, unexpected use and why) and how it relates to the person using it. It's my service mind. Technology is not a thing, but a tool that needs to disappear into the background. At this latest event, I kept telling folks to quit obsessing about the tech and focus on what they want to deliver to the user. The word was repeated so often, like some sort of object, that by the second day it really bugged me. All that repetition suggested to me that 'technology' was a place-holder for something that was missing that they couldn't put a finger on. And it seemed that the tech dominated over the simplest solution (hmm, sounds familiar).

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Hygiene

I've been hearing this word getting thrown about all too often, always related to product features.

Hygiene - This word is apparently used to describe the features a product the user expects it to have, just as a price of entry. But, the association with cleanliness, sanitation, and public health, just make a disconnect for me here. And also, folks usually mean attributes that go deep into what the product is, such as ease-of-use, reliability, and so on. Therefore, 'hygiene' is often a throw away comment for things that are incredibly hard to do (tip o' the hat to Matt). 'Price of entry' or 'minimum required feature set' or something like that, at least gives some value to all the hard work to create a solid foundation for a product upon which to then differentiate.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Seamless

Matt tapped my shoulder on this one. I have to concur.

Seamless - A penny for everytime some service provider uses this word. I've never really been much of a fan of this one. I think it's mostly because this word sounds so much like 'seemless', which reminds me of something shameful, or 'seem less' rather than 'seem more'. I don't know if there's a better alternative, but Matt once used the word 'seamed' - instead of having everything blur into everything else without seams, things stitch together in a nice way, but still with clear delineations.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Content

Where did this one come from?

Content - This word just seems insufficient and ambiguous (it can be a noun or adjective). It's so clinical and sterile. Ok, so it's in the same category as 'media', but 'media' is a word I happen to like, is attached to nice things,and is soft and round. Kontent is not really a Kingly word, isn't a word that is used in any regular context outside of some industry-speak, and isn't really something that lends itself to writing, such as these not so smooth phrases: 'download content to phone' (yes, quite happy) or 'manage your contents' (my bowels?) or 'user generated content' (sounds like a disease). I think it's just our own laziness, to lump so much into this word.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Consumer

Heard it. Don't like it. Can't get rid of it.

Consumer - This is a catch-all for the folks who fork over their dear money for something we have made.* All too often it is a term do describe some sort of passive consumption of media. I try hard to use some other term, such as 'user' or 'people' or 'subscribers' or something like that. It's not easy. But, thinking of the way folks actually use the web, so many folks are actually lurking and reading and watching and listening, and so few actually creating or participating (read more here, via JP). Hence, I think 'consumer' just might be sufficient.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

*A related tired word: 'end-user'. Ugh.

Tired words: Apple

This is one more word I struggle with at work. Read why.

Apple - I love Apple dearly and have been a loyalist since the 80s. But, what gets me is that they are constantly used as a benchmark for design and creativity. Fair enough, they arguably lead the pack. But, my concern is that if that's our bench mark, then we will never do better, only emulate. I don't want to emulate them, I want them to come to me and say, 'Hey, Charlie, I so dig what you do. We use your stuff as a benchmark.' Yeah, dream on, but that's what my target needs to be - to learn from them and do better.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Beta

Oy, this one is starting to sound amateurish. Read on.

Beta - C'mon. Nowadays, who comes out with a polished product? Everything has a first version, some are just weaker than others. And I am having a hard time differentiating between beta and release - they all seem like a continuum, except lately we just get access earlier. I think what rubs me the wrong way is that it is used now for an excuse for a shoddy product (a bad beta is worse than a bad product) or for trying to catch some shine from the Web 2.0 folks who made a name for themselves last year.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Web 2.0

A quick comment.

Web 2.0 - That's so 2005. Move on.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Services

Another word I struggle with at work.

Services - Uh, like experiences, this word is starting to bore me. It's just that everything we're building for the Web seems to be a service. Heck, the whole Internet is becoming one big 'service', so why do we still need to use the word?

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Experiences

File this one as 'Something said daily at work that I can't avoid'.

Experiences - Ugh. From commodities, to packaged goods, to services, to experiences. I'm just tired of hearing it. It's so broad, so undefined. Yes, you build it, but experiences are particular to the user to the product. Alas, I think I'm stuck with this one.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Online

My struggle here is the definition of this word. Too vague.

Online - Everything that communicates or uses data is connected to the net or will be (to be simplistic). Why, then, is 'online' a separate concept? It's a utility, a place of living and business, the fabric that connects the modern world, what we 'do'. If a company has an online group, does it have an offline group? Online should be part of all groups. Online isn't a separate biz function, but an underlying connector.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Community

The upsurge of the careless use of this word has me spinning.

Community - Same as innovation. It's something you see after, rather than can craft before. A bunch of people do not make a community. Example: Myspace is not a community any more than New York City is. Myspace is a huge collection of very small and intimate communties, much like New York is about communities based on neighbourhoods, shool groups, co-workers, extended families, etc. Communities form on their own and cannot be created like Athena out of our brain. Maybe it's the attempt to create communities by fiat that annoys me.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Computer

Another big name I am struggling with.

Computer - Another term that no longer seems to fit the bill.

Computers (as in laptop and desktop computers) no longer compute. They are appliances that do things that were once reserved for other machines. For example, we watch video, listen to music, browse text, send messages. No longer does the computer sit waiting for our command to crank something out (that is, compute) - we just use it to handle our media.

On the flip side, applicances have become like computers, that is, they have programmable chips embedded. I don't call my car a computer, or my VCR, or my microwave, though I can program them or interact with them in a post-mechanical way.

Should I call my phone a computer? It sure is acting like one (in all descriptions above), but the name doesn't really fit anymore.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Internet

I suppose you could say today's word is a hard one to be tired of. But, I think it's just that I belong to the last generation of the non-natives who live this hyperconnected life as much as a non-native can.

Internet - Sigh. I wonder if in the late 19th century, everything was about telegraph still or was it finally accepted by then. When will be stop talking about the 'Internet' as much as we've stopped talking about the phone network, the telegraph network, the electricity network? When does the Internet stop being a place and we start talking about what we do in terms of verbs. I am pretty sure my kids will have no separate concept of what the Internet is.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Podcast

Well, I'm not really tired of it - yet.

Podcast - I would like to have another name for time-shifted recordings. Y'see, none of the podcasts I listen to go on an iPod, nor are they listened to on a PC. I always listen to podcasts on my phone (or multimedia computer, if you want to be exact). And my podcasts are sometimes time-shifted radio shows, interviews, seminars, or even just spoken text. Suggestions?

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Blog

Today's word will probably lead to a lot of flames.

Blog - I try to avoid this word. Really, blogs are just websites and come in all shape, sizes, and qualities. Why the distinction? Throw into this batch vlogs, clogs, phlogs, grogs, hogs, and pogs and what ever else we might combine with it. Hey, it's a website.

You can review all my previous 'Tired Words' here on this page.

Tired words: Innovation

Yes, I am a cranky bastard. And my prerogative is to get tired of hearing certain words said over and over again.

I've been keeping track for some time and have finally decided to make the list public. And, to be more transparent in my thinking, I have also tried to convey the 'why'.

I'll be posting these as they come (I have a list, so expect a bunch from the start). They'll be listed under the 'Tired' category, if you want to see any of the others.

Here's my first one:

Innovation - My first word on this list, and the one that has bugged me the longest. Odd, coming from a person who just spent the last 3 years deep in the venturing arm of Nokia. I actually credit Carly Fiorina and a talk she gave a Nokia Mobility Conference a few years back when she mentioned 'innovation' so many times it started grating my ears.

Face it, innovation is one of those thing you can't make true by repeating it. Like authentic brands (oh! two more candidates for this list) it is something that you or your company already have within you. As the Oracle would say, 'It's like falling in love - balls to bones, you know it.'