Less is more

The less we use a term, the more we take it for granted. This from Walt Mossberg, personal technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal, at this week’s Digital Life Design conference in Munich.

The Internet is not a thing, not an activity, it is not something you do on a personal computer. Most of the people think of the Internet that way. The Internet is a big grid, just like the electrical system.

If you turn your hairdryer on, or if you make some toast, you do not think, ‘I am going on the electrical grid.’ If you want to understand the growing importance of the Internet, track the use of the words ‘Internet,’ or ‘going online.’ The less these terms are being used, the more important it is in our lives.

As people look for legal information or a lawyer, they’re going to say I’m going to ‘look it up’ or ‘go find.’ They’re not going to say I am going to use the Internet to do legal research or locate a lawyer. It’ll be taken for granted.

Source for post: Monique Van Dusseldorp at Poynteronline