Marketing shorthand

In 1888, Robert Gregg invented a new way to write. He called it shorthand, a new means of communication that records the sounds of the speaker, not the English spelling. This new system of phonography was quick to use and allowed real-time recording of people's speaking before the advent of audio recording. Here's an example of shorthand. Note how the squiggles represent words and sounds. The idea of symbols representing thoughts was certainly not new, but Gregg turned it into a language used by millions. Today we rely upon a form of shorthand in marketing. We create acronyms or new words to represent complex concepts. Take SCUBA, an acronym for what was once called an Aqualung, a device for breathing underwater invented by Jacques Cousteau. In audio, we use marketing terms to represent complex electronic circuits or concepts. PS Audio, for example, relies upon terms like the Digital Lens (a digital audio reclocking and isolation device), the GainCell (a variable gain linear amplifier), and soon the AirGap Interface (a new means of achieving isolation between digital processors through the use of air as an isolator and light as a connection medium). Some view marketing terms and names as mere fluff. I look at them as shorthand. To the extent we can communicate clear ideas using short terms, we will have an easier time grasping clear meaning of complex subjects.