Cloud was a very funny marketing buzzword that started with a real meaning and then devolved into "connects to the Internet." Cloud based things didn't even have to do anything with the Internet for marketing wonks to pretend like being connected to the cloud meant something. Great innovation folks just throw a wifi receiver in it and call it "The Cloud" we did it wow such innovation.

AI is rapidly descending into the same thing. There was a time when "AI" was being used to refer to actual machine learning algorithms that were good enough to fool the layperson into thinking they were smart. Nowadays the word AI just means "can compute something." Does it accept an input and make a decision on that input? Call it AI! My calculator is an AI! An ebook is AI enabled because it automatically changes the page based on how long I spent on the last page! My fridge has AI because it tells me when I accidentally left it open! Wow we just put extremely basic algorithms into everything and now it's AI! We did it we revolutionized technology forever!

Anyway now it's time for the prolific posters of Hexbear to flex your Nostradamus muscles. What's the next Big Dumb Tech Marketing Buzzword going to be and why? Lay it on us.

  • Owl [he/him]
    ·
    2 months ago

    Maybe cloud gaming again. There have been attempts pretty recently, which is a ding against it, but it's a real business model that at least Microsoft is well-positioned for, and it fulfills the primary goal of being a justification for building data centers and filling them with GPUs.

    I'm not very good at predicting these though. When I try to come up with reasons to fill a data center full of GPUs I inevitably fixate on things that might actually be useful to someone, which isn't the strat.

    • buckykat [none/use name]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Cloud gaming is the ultimate DRM which is why it's actually being pushed. Cloud-exclusive games also make game preservation impossible which is a bonus for the art-hating vampires running the industry.

      • Owl [he/him]
        ·
        2 months ago

        Yeah when I say "real business model" I of course mean "turns something you can own into a subscription service where you rent from an unaccountable landlord."

        But I really think using a data center full of GPUs is important as well, because it's a thing that the various tech companies can argue they have a competitive advantage (pile of capital) at.