How to Speak Tech (and Save Your Career)
You may have a dirty little secret, which is that you have NO IDEA what people at work are talking about when it comes to Web - or software - development. It's so bad that when you hear "back end development," you start thinking about your butt.
I just stumbled upon a tiny book designed to rescue people like you. It's called "How to Speak Tech."
Truth be told, the first time I picked up Vinay Trivedi's book, he almost lost me immediately. Vinay's opening sentence is: The progenitor of the Internet was the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), which was funded by the US Department of Defense to enable computers at universities and research laboratories to share information.
Note to Vinay: the only people who use the word "progenitor" are people who already know what ARPANET means.
But I soon realized that Vinay's genius is to explain technical details very quickly. This isn't a dumbed-down, overly superficial summary; it's a cheat sheet for people in positions of authority who should understand the technical aspects of Internet development, but don't.
For example, he explains cloud computing in just five pages, and does a pretty good job of it. If you can understand this sentence, you will be able to understand his explanation: The cloud is a bunch of computers connected in a large network such that they remain decentralized but able to interact collaboratively and selectively via Internet exchange.
The odds are that people at work talk about API's. Perhaps you have a vague sense that this means application programming interfaces, but that's about all you know. Vinay explains that APIs make it easy to share data that others have already gathered: say you want to show your users the locations of the nearest ATMs on a map and want to accept credit card payments... Either your team can build these features from scratch, which will increase development time considerably and perhaps delay your scheduled launch date, or you can utilize the work of others, such as Google Maps.
You can easily read this book in a few hours, but you probably won't. My guess is that most readers will take 20 minutes to read the relevant chapter or two, and thus save themselves a world of embarrassment. But if this description fits you, I also suggest you keep the book in your desk drawer, just in case your boss calls you into a development meeting with just a few minutes warning; this book is a lifesaver for the less-than-tech-savvy among us.
One last point... I don't normally review books, and my goal isn't to sell more books for an author I've never met; it's to save talented professionals from making ignorance-based mistakes.
How to Speak Tech by Vinay Trivedi. Don't be afraid, here's a little pep talk...
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Slideshare images by David C. Schultz. Book image from Vinay Trivedi.
Senior Manager, Content Design (UX) ? Author ? Speaker No sales inquiries, please
11 年Perhaps this resource comes just in time to help these folks: https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-1-10-americans-html-std-study-finds-20140304,0,1188415.story#axzz2v1UGF1uo
Do your "Best" whatever the circumstance.
11 年There are things why tech terms exists and why most people are not aware of it, I think it is better that people that knows the terms very well use it in their field of expertise for work. Even a techie person would not able to comprehend all of the jargons and terminologies as technology is far more fast growing than the human mind. I guess that's where expertise in a narrow fields are for.
Specialist in providing resources to local communities in need! Amile4everytear!
11 年I'm learning..its important to try right? I think all things " geek" are cool! The niche is blending " geek" w "street."
Product Designer @ Google | UX Strategist | AI & Automation | ACM SIGCHI member
11 年This is interesting, I always feel like i'm at the other end of the spectrum - I know the tech, it's learning the politics, the inner workings of companies, learning empathy for users, things like 'product / market fit', etc. Because tech alone is lonely without strategy. Learning tech is like reading a manual on how an air conditioner works, or how to do circuit bending. Completely useless unless you have a vision and are compelled beyond reason to bring something into existence. Otherwise why bother? Just because you can 'speak tech' won't save you from the passionate hordes who will slay you with their startups, their presentations, their patents, their prototypes, their multitudes of businesses and failed experiments. It won't save you from those seeking out co-working spaces, hackathons, new ideas, looking to harvest the radical strands of meaning in how we live our lives today and turn inspiration into inventions.
Your Supply Chain and Business Process Expert
11 年How to Speak Tech, in fact knowing archaic acronyms and proper use of nomenclature within industry specific segments is critical to credibility, or instant lack of respect if tagged as an outsider. I once remember a client in the High Tech industry talking about "Dash-It", and all that came to mind was the seasoning spice. My mind was stuck on what that term could actually mean, and later learned that it had noting to do with the High Tech industry at all, but a local courier service, not some new high-speed transport protocol. Bottom line is that is is very important to learn the lingo of your targeted industry. Any help, like this Vinay Trivedi book is welcomed for those wanting to branch out and become a cross-industry expert.