I know I don’t look it, (stop laughing) but I’ve been around the IT Industry for 27 years, since I graduated from college in 1985. During that time, I’ve encountered more than my fair share of industry buzzwords that were supposed to solve all the problems of the world, not to mention slice, dice and make julienne fries. I think at first I gave these terms their proper due, and did some research, and attempted to grasp a wafer thin concept. Now I think I’m just jaded. I just can’t seem to get myself up for the latest buzzword. In fact, if I hear them on the radio, I turn the station. Radio ads for system integrators are popular in the DC area. Without exception, they are all ‘proven’ and ‘agile’, or they ‘leverage’ and ‘optimize’.
Here are some of the concepts/methodologies/marketing campaigns that I’ve been through…
Object Oriented
Ebusiness, ecommerce, e-yadayadayada.
OnDemand
dot com
SOA
Grid
IAAS/SAAS/PAAS/EAAS or as I like to call it xAAS.
Cloud
Granted, Cloud seems to have…wings, if you’ll pardon the pun. But the rest really just make me cringe. It’s not that I’m not a fan of having a vocabulary; I am, and very much so. My mother used to have a thing called 50 cent words. If I used one correctly and in the proper situation, I got 50 cents. If you’re a blogger, you really need to be a wordsmith as well, even though blogging seems like the ultimate soliloquy, and in my case, with no readers, probably is. :) So it’s not that I don’t appreciate good words. I do. But like repeats of a tv show or riding the same roller coaster over and over, it gets old very quickly. Maybe it’s the overuse then, that aggravates me. Maybe I’m ok with the word until it becomes a buzzword, and then no more. And once everyone is using it, it’s no longer interesting, different, or fun.
Maybe.
Truthfully though, I think I’m just a plain old bits and bytes girl. Fancy marketing terms and wishy-washy ‘concepts’ just don’t do it for me. Even if they are cool words.
Ah buzzwords. Our industry thrives on them, so I guess I should be used to them.
There’s even a buzzword for whether or not you’re using enough buzzwords: ‘buzzword compliant’
In parting, I leave you with a great buzzword site… http://www.buzzwhack.com/ Enjoy!
Till next time,
z/OSsygirl