Perusing the August "Smithsonian" magazine article on Comdex -- the huge annual computer gathering in Las Vegas --
came across quote from Ralph Lauren's son, David, talking about a feature on their website which offers help to the fashion-challenged ... David is quoted thus "...With our 'Ask Ralph' feature we've gone way beyond the flat screen to create what I call 'merchantainment' ... "

In the next graph the writer refers to the 200,000+ folks who are at the Comdex convention as "the digerati.

Merchantainment I do not think will catch on outside of corporate memos ...

But "The Digerati" ... now there's a word for a new millenium!

I've heard digerati enough times to think it's a bit old.

But then you are one, aren't you, dear Jimdog ... for me (one retired from main workforce) digerati is a new word to define the digital generation. I do not subscribe to technical journals so the Smithsonian article is the first time I've seen it used, and used casually at that.
So, how about helping me into the new milenium with a few other words which may be old-to-you but would be millenial-new to me?
The subject *is words for a new millenium ...

Psst--wow, check out Cameron's macgyver thread in Misc.
Several new words there.

I'm just enough of one to know what digerati means.

There has been some concern expressed that the internet, with its icons, emoticons, hyperlinks, images, animations and universal symbols,will produce a generation of aliterates. I propose the word "aliterati" for the new millennium. Perhaps they will be primarily prepubescent punks piddling at pan-global portals and therefore qualify as alliterati as well. What the "l"'s the difference...

-CB

Cameron, a belated welcome to the board.
What a great post. Alliterative aliterates. I love it.

emoticons, hyperlinks, images, animations and universal symbols,will produce a generation of aliterates

and perhaps the tendency for some's attention spans being measured in nanoseconds might cause them to be dubbed the fliterati?

and perhaps the tendency for some's attention spans being measured in nanoseconds might cause them to be dubbed the fliterati?

or in the most extreme cases, the fibrillati? In which case AWAD, by fostering more extended reflection, would be a defibrillator?

The chronically intoxicated can be the obliterati.

Well, I guess that makes me, when clueless in certain situations, one of the obliviati.

(Warning: possible yart): yesterday's paper in my town had an aricle about new terms dealing with failed dot.com's. Examples: dot.carnage and dot.coma.

The article mentioned a website of such terms, but we'll have more fun inventing our own.

I thought that the established term for a failed dot.com is dot.bomb.

Agreed, Sparteye. Dot-bomb perfectly describes a single dead company; I was thinking about death-related concepts like moribund (dot.coma) or widespread slaughter (dot.carnage). Could be fruitful terrain.

Those prone to obsessive use of remote control: remoterati.

and sites for men who have not/wish they had not left home are, dot.mom

hairdressers have sites at dot.comb

pessimists should go to dot.gloom

jewish peace-lovers can try dot.shalom

the only users of dot.column.uk are Nelson and a few hundred pigeons.

all librarians are aware of a super site at dot.tome

afficionados of gangster films will find it worth while trying dot.Lom, whilst all Brits in OZ or Zild are using dot.pom