Death to "the Killer App"

[Jason Dunn]

http://articles.pocketnow.com/content.cgi?db=articles&id=76

Russ Smith from Pocketnow.com (I've been incorrectly writing PocketNow, which I think is way cooler anyway) waxes philosophical on the concept of the killer app. Killer article Russ! ;-)

"I think that the whole concept of the killer app was based on an oversimplification which escaped from the laboratory, mutated, and began to propagate through the minds of lazy journalists. Instead of writing a piece that said "This is a useful program, but it's not for everyone," they'd write "It's not a killer app." Every time a new genre of application or a significant advance in an existing application came about, you'd see a whole set of articles written asking "Is this a killer app?" Now writers of things Pocket PC will periodically wonder out loud if the Pocket PC will ever have its own killer app, usually on a slow news day. I might lose my key to the journalists washroom for this, but, why can't we just say what we mean without using buzzwords?"

Pst, Russ - buzzwords make for catchy reading. People like to be entertained!

[Jason Dunn]

http://articles.pocketnow.com/content.cgi?db=articles&id=76

Russ Smith from Pocketnow.com (I've been incorrectly writing PocketNow, which I think is way cooler anyway) waxes philosophical on the concept of the killer app. Killer article Russ! ;-)

"I think that the whole concept of the killer app was based on an oversimplification which escaped from the laboratory, mutated, and began to propagate through the minds of lazy journalists. Instead of writing a piece that said "This is a useful program, but it's not for everyone," they'd write "It's not a killer app." Every time a new genre of application or a significant advance in an existing application came about, you'd see a whole set of articles written asking "Is this a killer app?" Now writers of things Pocket PC will periodically wonder out loud if the Pocket PC will ever have its own killer app, usually on a slow news day. I might lose my key to the journalists washroom for this, but, why can't we just say what we mean without using buzzwords?"

Pst, Russ - buzzwords make for catchy reading. People like to be entertained!

[Russ Smith]

Thanks for the kind words.
I have to say that I tend to like the internal capitals myself, but, thats the way the folks who created pocketnow decided it shall be written.

About the buzz-words: I'm all for entertainment. I am, after all, the one who coined the phrase "prenant manatee" to describe the form-factor of iPAQ sleeves (And now I think pregnant manta-ray may be more accurate.) It's just that most buzz-phrases wear thin very quickly.