I have wittered on enough about words I don't like and that should be suppressed. Now I intend to witter on about words I don't like but that are extremely useful. This is another way of talking about a few things that will, I'm sure, be BIG in 2001.
First, Napsterisation. Will it make it into the dictionary in a few years? I don't know, but meanwhile it is an unpleasant but precise way of saying "the spread of peer-to-peer file sharing throughout all sorts of industries that now think peer-to-peer file sharing only happens in the House of Lords".
I quote from a computer games person: "It is only a matter of time before something like Napster happens to the games industry." From a book publisher: "Publishers are worried about seeing the Napsterisation of their database." Similar concerns have been aired in other digital download industries - and they are just a start. So if anyone tells you that Napster "is just so 2000," raise a quizzical eyebrow (if you have one).
Second, dematerialisation (first meaning). Turning solid things into intangible things. Computers have always done this, but no one said they did. Now they are, especially in the obscure but wildly important area of trade finance. Things haven't changed much here since the Phoenicians traded with the Venetians: goods still move around the world on a sea of paper-based forms. Now that is changing, with the arrival of the internet and smartcards: sad for those who like their red clause, back-to-back letters of credit, but handy for the people who actually do the business.
Why should marketing people care? Because the same thing is happening throughout the supply chain, of which trade finance is one part. And as we know, marketing is just the top of the seamless supply chain of the future: so learn to get your chops round this ugly but useful word.
Third, dematerialisation (second meaning). Otherwise known as teleporting. Disappearing in one place and reappearing somewhere else. I always thought it would only ever happen on Star Trek, but I heard three scientists saying it would definitely be possible this century. Nothing to do with new media, I know, but I thought you would be interested. Happy Christmas.
David Bowen is editor-in-chief of Net Profit, a new-media publishing and research company. Tel: 020 7403 1140; www.netprofit.co.uk.
Comment - These words are ugly, but they work.
I have wittered on enough about words I don't like and that should be suppressed. Now I intend to witter on about words I don't like but that are extremely useful. This is another way of talking about a few things that will, I'm sure, be BIG in 2001.
First, Napsterisation. Will it make it into the dictionary in a few years? I don't know, but meanwhile it is an unpleasant but precise way of saying "the spread of peer-to-peer file sharing throughout all sorts of industries that now think peer-to-peer file sharing only happens in the House of Lords".
I quote from a computer games person: "It is only a matter of time before something like Napster happens to the games industry." From a book publisher: "Publishers are worried about seeing the Napsterisation of their database." Similar concerns have been aired in other digital download industries - and they are just a start. So if anyone tells you that Napster "is just so 2000," raise a quizzical eyebrow (if you have one).
Second, dematerialisation (first meaning). Turning solid things into intangible things. Computers have always done this, but no one said they did. Now they are, especially in the obscure but wildly important area of trade finance. Things haven't changed much here since the Phoenicians traded with the Venetians: goods still move around the world on a sea of paper-based forms. Now that is changing, with the arrival of the internet and smartcards: sad for those who like their red clause, back-to-back letters of credit, but handy for the people who actually do the business.
Why should marketing people care? Because the same thing is happening throughout the supply chain, of which trade finance is one part. And as we know, marketing is just the top of the seamless supply chain of the future: so learn to get your chops round this ugly but useful word.
Third, dematerialisation (second meaning). Otherwise known as teleporting. Disappearing in one place and reappearing somewhere else. I always thought it would only ever happen on Star Trek, but I heard three scientists saying it would definitely be possible this century. Nothing to do with new media, I know, but I thought you would be interested. Happy Christmas.
David Bowen is editor-in-chief of Net Profit, a new-media publishing and research company. Tel: 020 7403 1140; www.netprofit.co.uk.
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