The BBC this week reports some research findings indicating if you speak geek you many not be getting through:
According to research from Nielsen/NetRatings, people are buying cutting-edge technology but often don’t understand the terms that describe what their device actually does.So while 40% of online Britons receive news feeds, 67% did not know that the official term for this service was Really Simple Syndication.
Terms such as podcasting and wikis are still meaningless to many.
“In the relentless quest for the next big thing when it comes to new forms of digital consumption, there is a significant tendency for the industry to over-estimate consumer’s knowledge and understanding of the seemingly limitless new terms and products out there,” said Alex Burmaster, internet analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings.
Via Mobhappy
Comments
@ 20:50
`Why do I need to know the terminology?
A BBC report shows that internet users don’t know much of the terminology they use every day. But why is it important for people to know this terminology?
@ 00:49
But that assumes that people *want* their customers to understand what they mean. Isn’t a lot of the terminology about seeming new and shiny, in the hope that people will want to buy your stuff without having more than the vaguest idea what it is.
Also, the RSS one: so what? Why on earth do people need to know that once upon a time RSS meant ‘really simple syndication’. The name is RSS, what it once stood for is unimportant trivial. In fact, there isn’t even much need to know it’s called RSS, as long as you can use it.