I read an interesting article today in TechCrunch on how a newspaper published a libellous headline, which was promptly propagated across the Web, including to ‘far-flung newspaper websites as the Times of India.’ The newspaper realised its mistake within an hour, and changed the headline, but by then the damage had been done. A second story in the same article was about another newspaper which published a false and again libellous headline in an article about Facebook, realised it and changed the headline. In both cases, the newspapers used URLs (the link that points to the article) that also included the libellous material. So, if the headline said ‘Hooker who became an Agony Aunt’, the URL would have looked something like www.newspaper.com/hooker_who_became_agony_aunt/. (That’s only an illustrative URL, not the real one, so don’t try clicking it – ’twill get you nowhere.) In both cases, the newspapers changed the offending headlines reasonably promptly, but took more time (‘several hours’) to change the URL. An assistant editor of one of the papers, when asked why it took more than 24 hours to change the URL replied that ‘it was “a technical matter”, adding: “We are removing elements of that”.’ [Translation: I don’t know how to change the URL, I don’t know why it’s taking so long, but someone, somewhere is surely doing something about it. I hope.] The author of the article that discussed this story, Paul Carr, opined that “The simple fact is that many editors have absolutely no idea how their papers work any more. “ I would modify that sentence to read: “The simple fact is that many owners and managers have absolutely no idea how their businesses work any more. “
I have been thinking about starting this blog for sometime, because, yeah, the world needs another blog. Over the last few years my conviction that people in leadership approach technology with their heads in the sand has been increasingly borne out by events that I see all around me. While debating with myself whether the world needs my blog or not, I came across an article on Techcrunch (see next post) that pushed me over the edge and this blog has been born. In it, I will attempt to focus on technology as I define it, which is to say: In most of this blog, when I use the word ‘technology’ it’s as a shorthand for personal computers, servers, networks, software, hardware, the Web, mobile phones and similar examples of the digital domain that pervades our every working and leisure moment. I am not referring to the broader meaning of ‘technology’ which would include planes, trains and automobiles and solar energy power and modern medicines and medical imaging and robotic surgery and so on. I hope to rave and rant and provoke and recommend and advocate. And I do this from my own perspective as a non-techie who ‘gets’ technology, enjoys it, has seen it change my life and has seen it being abused, misused and confused in too many businesses and organizations to be comfortable about it any longer. I have named the blog for Start-up and Small and Medium Enterprises, because these are the ones that can benefit the most from technology and these are the very ones who are getting it all wrong, most of the time. It is unfortunate that they are also the ones who cannot afford to do so, and they also usually cannot afford sound advice on the matter. The larger enterprises can afford mistakes (to a greater extent than the smaller ones can, at least) and can afford to pay for advice, its soundness or otherwise notwithstanding. So, SuSMETA has been born. The resemblance of its name to an alluring damsel is entirely coincidental.
Technology addict, former operations chief, serial entrepreneur, consultant, writer, blogger
