The tech industry and its users come up with new jargon and other terminology on a seemingly daily basis. In spite of this, I, in the course of my writing, regularly come across things and concepts that don’t have crisp monikers to describe them. I find myself stuck with the choice of using convoluted and awkward descriptions, or using a term that is deliberately incomplete or even inaccurate.
Some terms admittedly verge on technical pedantry. For example, if I use RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) as shorthand for the class of mostly high-end server processors that aren’t x86, I’m making a generalization that was more accurate historically than it is today. Neither the Itanium processor used by Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) in its Integrity servers nor
IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM)’s resurgent mainframes are actually RISC designs, although both are important in that segment of the market. There’s no neat umbrella term.
Is this just geekery that doesn’t matter in most circumstances? Perhaps. But consider that just saying “RISC” is the equivalent to using “V-8” as a synonym for automobile engine -- and imagine what doing so might say to a reader about your technical depth.
Here’s another word I need. I want to refer to x86 computers running general-purpose operating systems (primarily Windows, Linux, or OS X) in a desktop or notebook form factor. The term PC doesn’t really work, because that’s come to suggest Windows. Desktop doesn’t really work either -- although it probably comes closest -- because it excludes notebooks.
Nor do we have a good collective term for the software we use to access applications over the Internet -- e.g., browsers, AJAX, plug-ins, Adobe AIR applications, and so forth -- rather than full-blown C/C++ fat client apps.
Probably most troublesome though is when lack of the mot juste leads to phrasing that isn’t just sloppy but actively misleading. Case in point: the way we describe things like x86 processors and servers and many of the operating systems -- especially Linux and Windows -- that run on them.
“Commodity” is one term we see used a lot for, say, a processor from Intel, for instance. But what is a commodity? It’s a little bit simplistic, but this definition from Wikipedia captures the basics: “A commodity is something for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market. It is a product that is the same no matter who produces it, such as petroleum, notebook paper, or milk.”
Contrast this to, say, an Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) Nehalem processor. It’s arguably one of the most complex pieces of machinery on earth, and it’s differentiated in many, many ways from other Intel processors and from its Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) (NYSE: AMD) competitors. It’s true that x86 Intel and AMD processors can often be substituted for each other because they’re mostly compatible from a software perspective. But to use that as a definition of commodity is like saying all cars are compatible because you can drive them from one place to another on a road.
“Industry standard” is even more pernicious, given that it implies adherence to open interfaces and protocols that anyone can write to and use. TCP/IP is indeed an industry standard communications protocol. However, the aforementioned Nehalem and Microsoft Windows are not. Just because a single vendor sells a lot of something doesn’t morph it somehow into a “standard.”
I suspect that as cloud computing continues to grow in importance, we’ll hear a lot about “industry-standard” forms of it -- whether they’re really standards or not.
In practice, I tend to use “volume” as in “volume processors” and “volume operating systems” for components like Nehalem and Windows. This at least glancingly captures the dynamic, in that high volumes tend to lead to a virtuous cycle of lower costs although it’s not perfect.
There are plenty of terms that likewise need to be reexamined. I’m sure any technology-oriented reader can think of several.
— Gordon Haff, Senior Analyst at Illuminata Inc. on grids/supercomputing
That which we call a rose... ... ... as a research guy, I've seen more than my share of "name games" in focus groups. And even when not playing the "name game" specifically, it seems to rumble in the background on some level.
Ultimately, I think people have enough knowledge to know what it's Given name is as well as possible the Sur name - and still we all like our nicknames. In the end, we speak the same or similar enough language -- I think. ;-)
It is almost impossible in today's realtime messaging and collaborative world to get consensus on what an IT Name means. This has become evident firstly when vendors and analysts were trying to define what is SOA and ESB. Depending on which vendor and analyst you talk to their product or recommendation is the correct definition. Better yet, companies like IBM that had a middleware, integration software, etc., had to come up with more than one definition for SOA/ESB and depending on which sales person you are talking to...
The new hype as Terry mentioned is 'cloud'. In this study by McKinsey they found there were upto 13 different popular definitions on what cloud is and they ended up adding one more definition to support their understanding of cloud. We just need to get used to an umberlla/generic terms.
Mmmmm... good ones, David. I found Gordon's blog "purpose built," and that many of his points hit the "sweet spot" for "fault tolerant" readers. <sigh>
All kidding aside, I'm glad he mentioned this puffy, amorphous term "cloud," which is obviously very a la mode, and has come to mean anything remotely related to the WAN or outsourced/not owned. But cloud is cool for now, cloud will continue to be widely used, at least until we can stratify the term further somehow, or champion the return to private networks based in the company's own data center. Stay tuned!
New terminology comes into the language on a regular basis in any creative environment. One example I'm very familiar with is the use of the word 'agent' to describe a particular type of software. Carl Grundstrom and I were trying to decide what to call the little piece of Security Toolkit/UNIX that runs on the target machine and analyzes it's security. I joked that it was almost like a spy running around, and he came up with the term 'agent.' I don't know if this was the original use of the term, but this was in late spring of 1992, so it is certainly one of the earliest uses. There is really no way to standardize such organic growth of terms.
As for Microsoft (or any other large technology vendor, Cisco leaps to mind), if we could just get them to document what they mean by a particular word or phase we would be way ahead. Problem is, pick your favorite word or phrase and search just microsoft.com, you're likely to find hundreds or thousands of hits, often contradictory. Maybe a Microsoft to English dictionary website? Good luck.
Most of these terms that are be conjured up nowadays is just marketing fluff and puffery. The beauty about creating a website you have a certain set of terms: HTML, CSS, blah blah blah... these are regulated by the W3C, not a companies marketing department. Then you have Microsoft or even Apple and every time they want to find a new way to promote a "new" feature they talk with their marketing guys and find a new "catch phrase" to associate with their products. The issue becomes when people don't differentiate between marketing fluff and the actual terms. Example: an iPod (marketing/product name) is a MP3 player (type of hardware/software) no matter how you look at it. There is a lot of grey area, but hopefully you get my point.
David: That's the use case of a report that lives at the intersection of new technological differentiation and the market experience. Once you get in the loop, it's a breeze!
While I liked the "look and feel" of Gordon's article, it was not as "user-friendly" and as "easy to use" as I hoped.
But seriously, getting understandable terminology in the IT world has and will remain a challenge.
Following you a question to my post on Bing, I was just reading this Gartner article on Microsoft's site about Enterprise Search. Well, not exactly Enterprise Search as Gartner calls it "Magic Quadrant for Information Access Technology" which manages to convery virtually nothing in the title. "Information Access Technology" - come on that could be applied to virtually any technology in use today.
Perhaps it is because I have not read a Gartner report in awhile and have been reading more "English" or "public" documents, but I marvel (and not in a good way) at how much geek speak and unecessary terminology is in this report.
IT is getting to be like a multilingual nation: You need to have a few translations on the packaging to figure out what's being sold.
What's the difference, for instance, between grid computing and a virtualized cloud? What happened to artificial intelligence? Midplanes? Intelligent agents? The list is endless.
First comes the marketing pitch, in which a term or buzzword is released. Its adoption signals a successful product or services blitz -- though not neccesarily a market success. Once the new release comes along, the old language becomes a disincentive for the same marketing team that launched it two years previously. (Once enterprise software makers caught on that customers didn't like the idea of agent software for managing data center devices, they went to war on that term, for example.)
This never changes. Old, albeit improved, technologies are dressed up for the parade. Occasionally, something comes along that's so new it defies the term-builders. But wait awhile, and we'll see a new set of buzzwords.
I think too many people are concerned that when a vendor comes up with a term, it is an "instant hype" alert as opposed to a useful concept.
It might be possible to use some social media tools (member voting, online chats, etc.) to expedite the process and avoid the ponderous process that technical specifications go through.
I know that whenever I come across Microsoft stuff, I have to "gird my loins" (to borrow from the book/movie The Devil Wears Prada) because they are reinventing terms used elsewhere for their own corporatespeak.
Actually, I wonder if we could open source this process and use a Wiki/Collaboration model to build the repository?
In my sinister moments, I wonder if we should require that the definition should satisfy a general 12th grade US education so that most non-technical senior executives could grasp it easily...
I'd like to spend more time learning how to use technology than how to describe/decipher it.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
The digerati in places like Silicon Valley and Cambridge, Mass., aren't just early adopters by heartland standards. They're way out at the very forefront of technology and idea spread.
For more than the past year, we've seen a steady drumbeat of announcements in the technology space that analysts and developers have taken to calling “NoSQL.”
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
Big-data has become a big point of emphasis for many businesses. While the technology is available to deploy these applications, the needed personnel often is not. As a result, analytic engineers' salaries have blown past the six-figure mark, and hiring these experts has become a challenge for IT managers.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
Email This
