On the line that asked him to state his occupation, he did not know what to write. There was no name for what he did. Searcher? He couldn’t very well put that down.
Preface, “The New New Thing” by Michael Lewis
For that matter, there is no name for what he’s looking for, which, typically, is a technology, or an idea, on the cusp of commercial viability. The new new thing. It’s easier to say what the new new thing is not than to say what it is. It is not necessarily a new invention. It is not even necessarily a new idea — most everything has been considered by someone at some point. The new new thing is a notion that is poised to be taken seriously in the marketplace. It’s the idea that is a tiny push away from general acceptance and, when it gets that push, will change the world.
This passage sort of jumped out at me, especially the part that the new new thing is “not necessarily a new invention,” and that it is “a notion that is poised to be taken seriously in the marketplace,” or “it’s an idea that is a tiny push away from general acceptance.”
I feel like I was really lucky at the early stage of my career to be working at the very beginning of the newly created IBM Web Development Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts when the new new thing was the World Wide Web. Shortly after that it was mobile smart phones. I’ve said to some of my current colleagues that where we are now feels very much like where I was at those moments.
I don’t think all new new things are equal. Some are very big new new things that will truly change everyday life. Some are smaller. Given the discussions I am hearing, it feels likeI really feel like we are on the precipice of some pretty big new new things.