My word of the year is connovation. I just made it up.
Connovation describes a technology that has objectively improved over time, but has also been subject to increased criticism. The better something gets the more people hate it.
Weather forecasting is a great example of a connovation. A century ago humans were no better at predicting tornadoes than barnyard animals.
Now it takes three swipes on an iPhone to find out what type of hat to pack for a Panamanian cruise. And yet, American country clubs brim with crusty executives questioning the legitimacy of their local weatherman’s college degree because the humidity is a tick higher than anticipated leaving them with pit stains on their Peter Millar polo, and they have deals to close, deals to close! That is connovation.
It’s all about perspective. Say you showed up in Ancient Egypt with modern-era meteorological equipment. Forecast a few storms, seed some clouds in a drought. People would notice. In a matter of weeks you’d definitely get a special appointment as the Pharaoh’s most trusted vizier (a Rasputin/Jafar position).
At least four of the ten plagues would have shown on the radar loud & clear. Oh the trouble you could save. They would name a god after you! To the modern technologist, though, meteorology is so maddeningly unreliable that one might as well resort to astrology.
Telecommunication is another connovation. A few years back I trekked Siciliy’s Mt. Etna, an active volcano. I got to see lava IRL #goals. A sublime moment interrupted by a young man in a cutoff, histrionic because he couldn’t get his selfie posted until he returned to the base of the mountain. The founding fathers had to pose motionless for 8 hours, jaws aching from clamping their wooden teeth, just to get an approximate image of their likeness. But bro, absolutely crushing that you have to wait twenty minutes for a photo of such high-resolution that it would show the glue peeling off Thomas Jefferson’s powdered wig. Don’t worry, I shoved that guy right over the crater. It was easy, he was topheavy from skipping leg day (#2025goals).
Connovation, word of the year, 2025. Now I’m focused on 2026 (step ahead).