The Hottest New Buzzword: 'M-Commerce'

I spend a lot of time talking with technology-company execs. I speak with them on the phone almost every day, plus for a half-day or so on Fridays, my "phone day." I meet with, on average, two or three companies a week in my office or over coffee somewhere. Plus, I take frequent trips to Silicon Valley, Boston's Route-128 area and Seattle, for "go-sees" -- to look, touch and play with the new stuff before (sometimes long before) it's released.

I'm not especially proud that I spend that much time on these talks, and I hate the travel. But I don't know any other way to keep up with such rapidly changing industries as are today swept under the rubric of "technology."

After 20 years of these meetings, one of the things I've learned to listen for are new buzzwords -- terms that I start hearing from several sources, usually in several parts of the country, at about the same time. Terms that aren't in print or on TV yet, but, it's clear, soon will be. ...