Why Calling a Technology Dead is Stupid

Yet another instance flashed in front of my Twitter feed calling something dead.

Rest in Peace, oh product that I do not sell

Of course it came from the marketing department of a company that doesn't sell what it called dead, but that's beside the point. As product vendors, we KNOW that sometimes our solution isn't the most appropriate for every situation, but we don't relay that to the customer.

EMAIL IS DEAD - says the persistent chat vendor. No, it's not. Persistent chat is great for some groups but not so great for 1 on 1 communication. I'll cover group chat in a article later this week.

DESK PHONES ARE DEAD - says the app vendor. Maybe in your world you don't use a desk phone, but look at any doctor's office, dentist's office, veterinary office, etc and what do you see? Desk phones. Sometimes the most appropriate tool is not the one you sell.

HARDWARE IS DEAD - says the software vendor. That was a big hit a few years before both Polycom and Cisco released great new pieces of hardware. Oops.

All that being said, if the manufacturer kills it, then it really is dead especially if it's a service.