IM

I'm not a really big fan of Twitter, IM, etc. - and I'll explain why. It's really simple, but it seems to be missed by many people who are hell bent on explaining how great these things are. And in a way, they are great. So is the telephone. And the doorbell. And all manner of devices and technologies that interrupt people.

I call it Interruptive Technology.

When the pager first came out, all sorts of people were wandering around with pagers - some weren't even actually used. It was a status symbol. When I worked in the Emergency Department of Naval Hospital Orlando, I got saddled with the Shift Supervisor pager. Picture this: you get a nasty laceration so you go to the emergency room. You watch as the person about to suture you up irrigates your wound, sterilizes it and sets up a sterile field so that they can stitch you up. With the suture kit all opened up, the sterile gloves on... you suddenly hear a pager go off. Or worse, it starts vibrating in their pocket and the person about to suture you starts freaking out.

There are times when a person should not be interrupted. I think every shift supervisor tried to kill that pager.

The telephone always rings when you're in the shower. Or when you're in the middle of an amorous moment.

And instant messaging never worked for me - with all the people that know me/I know, I can't deal with a deluge of thousands of, "Hi, how are you?". It's silly and annoying. If you're going to bug someone, cut to the chase.

So then came twitter, which does that to some degree - but why would I have it connected to my mobile phone so that it buzzes all the time?

There's something to be said for the simple things. Like email. You send a message, you read it as needed. I realize that there are times when something important may come up that would require someone's immediate attention. And a lot of these technologies and devices can do that. The trouble is how people use it.

It's sort of funny. 'Disruptive technology', as a phrase, is considered by many self-proclaimed pundits to meet the definition here:

A disruptive technology or disruptive innovation is a technological innovation that improves a product or service in ways that the market does not expect, typically by being lower priced or designed for a different set of consumers.

I offer another definition which is based more on the meaning of the words in the phrase rather than a heavily marketed conceptualization meant for marketing. Remember when the web had more content than marketing?

Disruptive derives from disrupt - which means to cause turmoil or disorder, or to interrupt continuity.

Technology's definition is a bit more interesting and vague - but for the purposes of this entry, we'll go with the following:

...the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.

Therefore, a 'disruptive technology' - outside of the pundit-speak - is actually a form of technology that causes disruption, turmoil, disorder and interrupts continuity. A mobile handset against the ear when driving. Newsfeeds and associated technologies that people are addicted to and follow to the point of distraction. The list can go on - and should go on. In fact, the very phrase 'disruptive technology' has been taken by marketers and twisted into a meaning altogether different.