All Those Nortel RumorsAll Those Nortel Rumors

Nowadays, thanks to Twitter, everybody knows everything--even the things that aren't true (yet).

In my younger, carefree days, I was a small-town newspaper reporter and editor. Back then--and maybe still, in whatever's left of the newspaper business--there was the story you wrote, and then there was the story.Typically everybody around City Hall or the police station would know that such and such a local politician was sleeping around, another was drunk every morning by 10 a.m., those sorts of things. You didn't report them, a.) because you didn't want to get sued, but also b.) because you weren't quite sure at what point it became a story.

Nowadays, thanks to Twitter, everybody knows everything--even the things that aren't true (yet).

Last week, for example, we all knew that Siemens Enterprise was about to buy Nortel Enterprise. And by about to, I mean, the deal was going to be announced that day. Someone had tweeted it, and then a bunch of people had re-tweeted that original tweet. Then a bunch of people tweeted about, had anybody heard anything yet? Just about a week later, nobody has heard anything yet.

In the old days, you'd do what I just did there--write a story about the rumors. Now, I guess, you just have the rumors, and everyone's in on it.

Eventually something's going to happen with Nortel Enterprise. Maybe it'll be Siemens that buys them. Then we'll all have been right, and super-early about it, too.

The Mehl Brothers were ahead of their time in so many ways:

Nowadays, thanks to Twitter, everybody knows everything--even the things that aren't true (yet).