This is the 24th article that one or both of us has written for Online Currents over the course of six years. The first topic was “Enterprise collaborative bookmarking” – which was a hot topic with a number of start-ups in 2009. As of 2016, it is dead in the water and some of the technology companies mentioned in that article are no longer going concerns. Since then we have discussed big data, mobile, enterprise social networks, search, email, cyber-security and SharePoint. Researching these topics and trying to formulate 3,500 words on them has been a valuable learning experience.
However this article is a little different. We will be taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. The example of enterprise collaborative bookmarking indicates that not all hyped ideas will be successful and the mixed fortunes of the other topics demonstrates that there are complex forces at play in the world of technology. This article wants to explore the gaps between the hype and the reality and mark out a possible path for information professionals.
