I saw an old software joke the other day:
“There are 10 kinds of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don’t.”
You only get that joke if you were forced to learn byte codes in a computer science curriculum of some sort. If you went through that, like I did, then you’d know that using binary numbers, the symbol “10″ means “2″.
The reason I used it here is that it assumes you have a certain context and if you don’t the joke is completely meaningless to you. To assume a similar context when making a presentation to a senior executive or a marketing expert about your very technically oriented topic is every bit the same mistake except that it can help get you fired instead of just not getting a laugh.
It illustrates why I write the things I do here, reinforcing the notion that those of us who are technically savvy can lose a whole bunch of folks who don’t understand the same context we do and that can be really bad for your career.
February 2, 2009 at 9:48 pm |
They have a thinkgeek.com t-shirt with that quote on it. Its a good conversation starter with people who get it on planes.
February 10, 2009 at 10:26 am |
Hello Pete, I have to admit the joke is unique and very funny. But, as noted I would be hard pressed to tell (or wear) this joke to anyone except for my nerdy 16-year-old. Not to be a joke spoiler but in keeping with nerdiness the joke is only valid for the 2′s complement system!
) David.
February 13, 2009 at 6:15 pm |
Thanks for reinforcing the point, Dave, and I’ll try to mind my 2′s complement 8)
—Pete
February 2, 2009 at 10:47 pm |
You are correct:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/frustrations/5aa9/
—Pete