The Official Tech Cliche Question du Jour

By Paul Kedrosky · March 27, 2007 · ·

The Official Tech Cliche Question du Jour:

Do you have a way of tying that into Twitter?

I’m childishly fond of asking it to people in utterly unrelated business, like, say, an electronics manufacturer.

Related posts:

  1. Tech Grammar Question: Slinged, Slung, Slang
  2. Best Job Interview Question of All Time
  3. Quick Tech Question: Excel Stylesheets
  4. Errant Cliche-watch: Cannot Be Understated
  5. Stat du Jour: German Labor Markets

Comments

  1. fewquid says:
    March 27, 2007 at 8:59 am

    Seriously, you crack me up…

  2. John Minnihan says:
    March 27, 2007 at 10:39 am

    Twitter seems to be a cross between the type of hyper-chat typically practiced by tween girls (where somehow, no matter how inconsequential something seems [or really is], there is a need to talk about it) and a marketer’s dream of Instant Demographics.
    If people are really into this, here are some obvious (and no so obvious) uses of the Twitter API:
    - Tied to your credit card usage (“Now purchasing 17.2 gallons unleaded, $2.65/gallon, Highlands Ranch Conoco”)
    - Tied to your car’s GPS/OnStar transceiver (“Now crossing into Douglas County from Denver County, northbound County Line Road”)
    - Tied to a simple wireless switch-activated webcam attached to the gate into your backyard (“That rat bastard neighbor is sneaking in to steal spearmint leaves from your garden… again”)
    So, if Twitter were *automatically* enabled on your cell phone & certain of these types of “transactions” were published, then it may be inevitable that marketers will totally underwrite both cell phones and the service.
    In exchange for the always-on, instant demographics, the consumer gets 100% subsidized service & handset.