Tech Buzzwords: Will They Ever Stop Coming?

Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.

  Career Development  

Answer: No! In fact, they're coming so fast and furious, it's hard to keep track of all of them. If I were paranoid, I'd say it's a plot to confuse us. To illustrate my point, take the word "solution," a powerhouse buzzword that has so pervasively infiltrated our lives that most people are barely aware of it.

Question: Which sounds better and more authoritative, "solutions" or "products"? The answer is obviously "solutions." We take products for granted because they've been around forever. Products are bought, used, discarded and forgotten. It's a pretty boring word.

But solutions? They are sexy, snappy, high-end, upscale, intelligent, sophisticated and totally cool. But, they're also confusing and indefinable. Solutions are tailor-made tools for the "Mad-Ave" and corporate PR crowd so they can snow an unsuspecting public with meaningless information. Companies are turning out solutions by the truckload, but what the heck are they?

You're going to find out right now. I apologize for sounding preachy or curmudgeon-like, but don't you think it's time we started reading, writing and listening more critically and saying what we mean in plain English? How's that for a refreshing concept? Read on and I bet you'll agree with me.

Except for contrarians and computer lexicographers like Alan Freedman (who has been writing technology …

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