from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
smoke and mirrors
n.
Marketing deceptions. The term is mainstream in this general sense.
Among hackers it's strongly associated with bogus demos and crocked
{benchmark}s (see also {MIPS}, {machoflops}). "They claim their new
box cranks 50 MIPS for under $5000, but didn't specify the instruction
mix -- sounds like smoke and mirrors to me." The phrase, popularized
by newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin c.1975, has been said to derive
from carnie slang for magic acts and `freak show' displays that depend
on trompe l'oeil effects, but also calls to mind the fierce Aztec god
Tezcatlipoca (lit. "Smoking Mirror") for whom the hearts of huge
numbers of human sacrificial victims were regularly cut out. Upon
hearing about a rigged demo or yet another round of fantasy-based
marketing promises, hackers often feel analogously disheartened. See
also {stealth manager}.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
smoke and mirrors
Marketing deceptions. The term is mainstream in this general
sense. Among hackers it's strongly associated with bogus
demos and crocked {benchmarks} (see also {MIPS},
{machoflops}). "They claim their new box cranks 50 MIPS for
under $5000, but didn't specify the instruction mix - sounds
like smoke and mirrors to me." The phrase has been said to
derive from carnie slang for magic acts and "freak show"
displays that depend on "trompe l"oeil' effects, but also
calls to mind the fierce Aztec god Tezcatlipoca (lit. "Smoking
Mirror") for whom the hearts of huge numbers of human
sacrificial victims were regularly cut out. Upon hearing
about a rigged demo or yet another round of fantasy-based
marketing promises, hackers often feel analogously
disheartened.