I think that virtual and on-line are fast becoming as superfluous as adjectives like horseless and electric.
Virtual and On-Line Are As
Superfluous As Horseless and Electric
I think “virtual team” is rapidly becoming redundant: just as “horseless carriage” became car, I think “virtual team” will become just team. Most project teams will have a virtual component (e.g. on-line workspace, chat histories) and geographically remote members, if only to involve suppliers, partners, and customers more seamlessly.
More broadly, I think that virtual and on-line are fast becoming as superfluous as adjectives like horseless and electric.
Certainly virtual in the sense of simulated or on-line is losing meaning as cyberspace everts and interpenetrates our daily life. On-line constructs are intertwined with “real life” to the extent that on-line and connected is our default waking state.
Other Pervasive Transformations Like Electricity
The first sentence of “What Matters in Digital Health Now” by Simon Terry is, “Australia’s Healthcare industry players are not wasting a crisis in the goal of achieving much needed digital transformation.” I have two observations:
- Those who don’t “let a crisis go to waste” tend to be more interested in dictating outcomes than listening and negotiating shared value.
- Digital is like electricity, a pervasive platform. The real question is,”What is the value you are providing?” Not, “Is it digital?”
I agree with the paper’s observation that “digital” is like any large scale transformation, and at this point it is probably a pleonasm (think “horseless”) when attached to a change effort.
Other Redundant Technology Adjectives
- 2020 may make “distance learning” a pleonasm.
- Horseless Carriage gave way to Car. The first automobile industry trade journal was called “Horseless Age.”
- “Filmless camera” gave way to “digital camera” and now just camera. Traditional cameras are now called “film cameras.”
- Radio ph0ne was replaced by “cellular phone” and then “smart phone” and finally “phone.”
Update Mon-Aug-24-2026: This sentence in the original Digital Health paper struck me on re-reading it:
“There is much to do in realizing the potential of digital technology in healthcare to the benefit of the wider system transformation.”
“What Matters in Digital Health Now” by Simon Terry
I think AI has replaced “digital” as the hot new technology, with everyone now trying to apply “AI technology.”
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