I draw the line at Candy Making 2.0
The IT industry is well-known for its myriad acronyms and euphemisms, all virtually unintelligible to nontechies. CRM. SaaS. TCP/IP. The list goes on and on. And when a new word catches on, it seems to pop up all over.
One of the latest IT buzzwords (and a frequent topic of this blog), of course, is Web 2.0. It is the accepted name of the developing collaborative technology movement, as I’m sure you know.
Now, I have no problem with the term Web 2.0 itself. I even rather like the term Enterprise 2.0, coined by Harvard Business School’s Andrew McAfee to describe the use of Web 2.0 tools and techniques in the enterprise.
But I have to draw the line somewhere. Scanning the wires today, I came across a press release announcing the first annual Sales 2.0 Conference in San Francisco later this year. What is Sales 2.0, you ask?
“Sales 2.0 simply means integrating the power of Web 2.0 technologies with proven sales techniques to increase sales velocity and volume,” we’re told. At the Sales 2.0 Conference, attendees will learn “how combining next-generation Web technologies such as Web conferencing, social networking, prospect databases and Web site-tracking services with innovative sales processes can dramatically accelerate the sales cycle.”
OK, I get it. Salesmen just realized that blogs and wikis can help them sell more stuff, especially to the so-called “MySpace Generation.” Good for them. It’s the American Way after all.
But you can’t just slap a 2.0 at the end of every occupation and discipline out there and think you’ve invented a new term! Sales 2.0? What’s next, Farming 2.0? Candy-Making 2.0? How about Web 2.0 2.0, applying Web 2.0 techniques to the discussion and promotion of Web 2.0?
Please, let’s stop the madness now before it gets totally out of hand. No more fill-in-the-blank 2.0. If you can’t come up with a more creative, graphic term to describe whatever technological movement it is you’re trying to name, it probably isn’t a movement worth naming. Or even a movement at all.
Who’s with me?
Posted: July 12th, 2007 under Tech Lite, Web 2.0.
Jeff,
I hear what you are saying. If using blogs and wikis was the sum of what Sales 2.0 is about, I would agree with you. But actually there’s something deeper behind this than just technology.
The sales profession has not kept up with the world. Sales people are, in many cases, using sales techniques over 100 years old (truly)! That’s why some sales people come off so awfully when we are buying.
If there’s one “2.0″ that really stands for something, it is “Sales 2.0″ - the next generation of professional sales. The profession really needs to step into the modern age.
Nigel
Comment by Nigel Edelshain — July 16, 2007 @ 11:07 am
Am sick of the marketing hype too.
One executive definition of Web 2.0 I have seen lately is “AJAX + mash ups”.
Henry
Comment by Henry Z. — July 17, 2007 @ 10:26 am
Hear, hear Jeff…
I too, am tired of the constant misuse of terms acronyms, methodologies, approaches, technilogical ideals, concepts & fantasies. I started in this industry when hardrives were 5 MB and cost over $3,000. I’ve seen more technology bandwagon jumping here than with pro sports. Rarely for the good I might add.
You’re right!!! Stop changing a few words on some slides and branding the new saviour in whatever market you’re trying to capture. If it’s useful, something that truly has value, people will want to use it. I think we can all agree that if a salesperson can make their 6 figures and an IT manager can save 6 figures (or more), we’re all on board without the fancy numbers and letters.
Oh, and by the way, some of those who SHOULD be jumping off bandwagons, CIO’s and IT managers who haven’t looked past the bright lights and easy sells of today’s mediocre platforms.
Thanks Jeff for waking this old dog.
Comment by Paul Grottoli — July 17, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Being a webmaster, I’m with you. Marketing especially has a way of slapping any new buzz word onto something old to make it new. Why oh why? I’ve been using “Web 2.0″ technologies in my code forever…in internet years at least.
Comment by [ t ] — July 18, 2007 @ 11:40 am
I agree with your general sentiment, but actually “candy making 2.0″ is already with us: a guy I know is involved with a company that makes holographic lollipops! See http://lv.stores.yahoo.net/assortmenft.html or http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E11F8345E0C718CDDAD0894DF494D81&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Comment by Brendan — July 19, 2007 @ 11:49 am
[…] Blog: I draw the line at Candy Making 2.0 […]
Pingback by SMB Weekly Roundup for July 18, 2007 — SMB Weekly Roundup — July 19, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
Amen, brother! I share John Dvorak’s cynicism about affixing the “Web x.0″ moniker on everything: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=10521
I must say, however, that many Sales 2.0 apps appear to be very real and they can provide some real benefit for helping salespeople to interact more effectively with their customers and within their own organizations. On the other hand, I’m also seeing more over-zealous marketeers putting “Sales 2.0″ on some things with little more than a tenuous link to improved sales collaboration and interaction. If we’re not careful, this is going to be come as meaningless as marketing terms like “lite” or “organic”.
Comment by Tim Sullivan — July 20, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
[…] OK, everybody just relax. There’s no question that the Web 2.0 “phenomenon” has suffered its fair share of hype, but to say the current situation mirrors the heady dot-com days of yesteryear is a bit of a stretch. […]
Pingback by Web 2.0: Another tech bubble about to burst? — SMB Connection — August 30, 2007 @ 3:51 pm