Write-Only Memory

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the concept of Read-Only Memory (ROM), where data is stored once but then accessed (read) many times. The converse of ROM is WOM, Write-Only Memory. This is when you spend time gathering data and storing it somewhere, only to ignore it, fail to look at it again, or take any action on it. This is pernicious and happens far too often. "Management reports" are a good example of something that people can spend a lot of time and effort on with no ROI. In my first start-up we coined the phrase "Write-Only Memory" and would use it as a watch-word with each other when we felt we were falling into the WOM trap in some way. Something to be on the lookout for and avoid.