I've seen a bunch of companies/ people using this strategy lately. Making it appear like they're going to make a revolutionary statement that is going to change the world.
An "idea implemented." Unfortunately is rarely turns out to be something concrete - it's usually an idea with a significant buy in... But an idea that's a step in the right direction... A call to action...
No offense taken, but the point is, there's no "like these." You're comparing two very different things. Knuth's comment was aimed at piqueing the interest of the tiny fraction of people who might want to come see him at a TeX celebration-- which has absolutely nothing to do with hyperbole in marketing press releases.
> I've seen a bunch of companies/ people using this strategy lately. Making it appear like they're going to make a revolutionary statement that is going to change the world.
An "idea implemented." Unfortunately is rarely turns out to be something concrete - it's usually an idea with a significant buy in... But an idea that's a step in the right direction... A call to action...
Examples:
1) Cisco announced a really fast router that was going to "change the Internet forever." (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/03/09/what-cisco-lacks-in-s...)
2) Bloombox (http://bloomenergy.com)
Of course, as others have pointed out maybe he's just playing the fool.