Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

A curious cousin to Garbage In, Garbage Out is the database curse of Nothing In, Nothing Out.

If you are old enough, you have heard of Garbage In, Garbage Out. When we put bad data into a computer, the computer crunches the numbers a produces more bad data.

In recent years, I have encountered another In-Out occurrence:

Nothing In, Nothing Out

Today we have blogs and wikis. We have gazillions of blogs and wikis. We have more information produced by all of us that none of us can read what all of us are writing (inputting (or however you spell that nonsensical word)).

Still, I meet groups of people who are afraid to type anything into a computer. They cannot enter data or information or anything into content management systems (CMSs). There is no content to manage, so nothing happens.

There is one word that creates Nothing In, Nothing Out:

F E A R

Many of us are afraid to write anything. And I mean A N Y T H I N G. That includes a person’s name. A N Y T H I N G.

Hence, I find expensive CMSs installed and never used.

Fear conquers all.