It’s never to late to make changes in your life. If you are in the tech industry, these are the tech terms that should die and not be used this year
By this time of the year, that tan you spent so long cultivating over the holidays will probably have faded. You‘ll have rethought a couple of your New Year‘s resolutions (or broken the majority of them), and losing track of what day it is will have been replaced with living for the weekend. Still, that doesn‘t mean it‘s too late to make some serious changes ““ starting with the tech terms bandied about a lot last year that we should leave in the past.
Unicorns
For those not in the know, a unicorn is a technology start-up valued at more than US$1-billion. They got the name because they‘re almost as rare as actual unicorns. Thing is, as the hunger for tech investments has grown, so has the number of unicorns. According to Forbes, there are now more than 80 unicorns. Granted, that‘s still not many, but it‘s pretty far off from the number of actual unicorns roaming the world, which is zero.
Growth hacking
According to Wikipedia, growing hacking is a marketing technique “œdeveloped by technology startups which use creativity, analytical thinking, and social metrics to sell products and gain exposure“. Think Dropbox giving free storage to people who referred friends, or Uber‘s get R150 when a new customer registers with your short code (while they also get R150). When it was just edgy startups using the term, it was exciting. But these days too many big corporates use it as an excuse not to drop budget on marketing.
The Uber of X
In what has become a new trend when pitching new tech ideas, you‘ll often hear people describe themselves as “œThe Uber of mobile massages“, or whatever it is they do. However useful it might seem as a descriptor, it‘s just plain lazy. You know who gets to call themselves the Uber of anything? Uber. That‘s who.
Disruptive technology
As with many of the terms on this list, disruptive technology was really meaningful when it first appeared. It spoke to how things like Google News or Uber forced entire industries to adapt fast or die faster. But with overuse, it‘s become practically meaningless. If your technology is marginally cheaper, but otherwise more or less the same as your competitors, then it‘s really not disruptive. Not even remotely.
Ideation
Now this one really gets my goat. If you want to be the subject of your office buzzword bingo pool, then use this word. Otherwise just say “œlet‘s come up with some ideas for how we‘re going to tackle this or that“. Everyone will understand what you mean and you‘ll look a lot less like a complete tool.
Crushing it
This isn‘t strictly a tech term, but it‘s one that‘s become adopted by brogrammers (programmers who like to pump iron and engage in overtly macho behaviour). It‘s also highly annoying and frequently applied to tasks which genuinely don‘t require “œcrushing“. It is something I come across way too much in and around the office.
Are there any other tech terms that should die and you find we have to get rid of and as soon as possible? Let us know in the comments below.
Courtesy: Nashua
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