The latest disruptive technology? Tin cans.

Are you ready for a morning eye-roll?

So TechCrunch Disrupt is going on this week. I don't know exactly what TechCrunch Disrupt's elevator pitch is, but I think it's safe to say it's a conference designed around new technology that is potentially disruptive, eh?

So what disruptive tech were they talking about yesterday? A tin can. I am not speaking figuratively.

There's a company called Churchkey Can Co. that has apparently become something of a tech darling. Their angle is selling beer that comes in tin cans without fliptops. You need a can opener (aka a 'churchkey') to open the beer. Just like we used to have to do in the '60s.

Both VentureBeat and TechCrunch found this technology worth covering. TechCrunch in particular was breathlessly enthusiastic, quoting ex-Crunch writer MG Siegler (an investor in CCC) as saying the cans have the potential to disrupt the beer industry with its new design.

Excuse me... new design? My father is spinning in his grave right now!

One of CCC's founders is Adrian Grenier who was in Entourage. He seems to be the spokesperson and he told the Disrupt audience that beer is a cultural thing and that "old-style beer" (not to be confused with Old Style beer, presumably) had disappeared.

I'm not sure what he means by "old-style" beer but I assume he means the watery, tasteless drink brewed from corn sugar, rice and a hint of barley that used to dominate the domestic beer shelves. Do we really want to go back to that?

The only spin in the TechCrunch piece that remotely works is that the CCC beer cans are made from recycled materials and are easy to pick out of the waste stream. I'll add that tin cans rust away pretty quickly. At least the sides and tops do, leaving the two rings of the 'lips' of the can connected by the seam, which tend to linger long enough for some kid to cut his bare feet on (yes, this is the voice of experience talking).

The best (in other words, most amusing) part of this coverage is that neither publication mentions that quality of the actual beer inside the can. The implication is that we just buy our beer based on the container and not what's inside.

Either that, or perhaps it's just that TechCrunch will cover any company that its favored sons have invested in. What a joke.

Read more of Peter Smith's TechnoFile blog and follow the latest IT news at ITworld. Follow Peter on Twitter at @pasmith. For the latest IT news, analysis and how-tos, follow ITworld on Twitter and Facebook.