Jargon, unfortunately, has a powerful effect on us. Let me illustrate with an elaborate example.

Would you believe there are so-called audiophiles who can’t make out a hi-fi system from a broken one? While being so well-versed in technical descriptions that they believe they can? Here’s a true story: I once sold and couriered a hi-fi system on eBay to an “audiophile.”. A high-end amplifier and high-quality speakers.
I happen to be an audiophile, but I don’t know any of the technical terms.

Now this buyer received the equipment, and he was all agog with praise and jargon. I’m making up most of the words here, but here’s roughly how his reply went:
“Thanks for this. Great setup. The speakers are excellent, especially the tweeters — at 60 degrees orthogonal to my variable-watt woofer. The mids are good in a near-field setup, but spread out to room throw, they’re average. The amp itself is tethered linearly to...”

You get the idea.

Next day, he gets back with a complaint in all caps: “Help! The courier broke one of the speakers! I just noticed! It’s squashed on one side, and there’s no sound! I need a replacement!”

This is the kind of thing that happens when you equate tech — or sound — with jargon. But it’s all too easy to do so.

I’m reminded of “SCIgen - An Automatic CS Paper Generator.” It generates real-sounding “fake” scientific papers; one of the papers this program generated was actually accepted for a conference by a human being, a Ph.D., no less. Check out the links for the (hilarious) paper, the acceptance e-mail, and more!

Especially in tech, jargon is a powerful tool to impress — and to deceive. Handle it with care.

Tags : tech jargon, audiophiles