July 1998
COLD is Old: We Need to Change the Name
COLD was invented as an acronym for storing computer reports on disk for later online retrieval. It stands for Computer Output to Laser Disk.
This acronym made sense ten years ago when it replaced what was known as
COM -- Computer Output to Microfilm or Microfiche. COM reduced the space
taken up by bulky paper computer reports by writing them to microfiche.
COLD wrote them to an optical (laser) disk along with an index to make
them easy to find. COLD eliminated the need to process film, reduced cost
and made the reports more easily available.
If the underlying technologies had remained the same, then everything
would be okay, but things got complex. CDs largely replaced optical
disks, while magnetic disks dropped in price and increased in capacity.
As a result, reports could stay on large magnetic storage devices to
facilitate fast retrieval with a backup on CD. Then, computer reports got
mixed up with images of paper documents and other objects such as voice
files and faxes.
COLD was then expanded further with logic and mathematical functions
so that new reports could be created from old ones or so that reports
could be placed into spreadsheets for manipulation. Multiple searching
capabilities, including full-text, were added with reports available for
retrieval over the Internet. New vendors coming into the market from
outside the document management business called their products names such
as AFP Technology, after IBM's print stream, or PCL Tools, after H-P's
print language.
So COLD, a term rooted in old technology, has been bypassed and
become pigeonholed as a powerful management report tool. Clearly, we need
another term urgently.
Some suggestions: CODA for Computer Output Data Analysis; COMET for
Computer Output Management; OPT - Output Processing of Transactions; COSA
- Computer Output Storage and Access; COPP - Computer Output Print
Processing; FDSM - Formatted Data Storage and Management.
Harvey Spencer is an East Northport, NY-based consultant to the
document management systems market (phone: 516-368-8393 email:
Harvey@hsassocs. com). He focuses on capture and forms processing
solutions and is a contributing editor to Imaging Magazine.
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