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How 10 Iconic Tech Products Got Their Names

Posted by timothy on from the slash-dev-slash-random dept.

lgmac writes "Think Windows Azure is a stupid name? Ever wonder how iPod, BlackBerry and Twitter got their names? Author Tom Wailgum goes inside the process of creating tech product names that are cool but not exclusionary, marketable, and most of all, free of copyright and trademark gotchas. Here's the scoop on ten iconic tech products and how they got their monikers, plus a chat with the man responsible for naming Azure, BlackBerry, and more. (What's the one he wishes he'd named but didn't? Google.)"

35 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. I bet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...it involved a lot of pot.

    1. Re:I bet... by JCSoRocks · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Not really. Naming is actually a really big business and is usually a pretty painful process. I know someone that was a professional namer that worked for a big branding house for a while. The time they spent coming up with names was pretty incredible.

      I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen him working on projects with my own eyes. I always figured a bunch of marketing hacks just got together in a room and tossed around names until one stuck. Maybe I was just biased because that's the way it worked where I was at.

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    2. Re:I bet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      and then there is Apple

      it's a phone, what should we call it? iPhone

      it's a new Mac, what should we call it? iMac

      it handles all your tunes, what should we call it? iTunes

      great, boys, we're done here

    3. Re:I bet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      iPot?

      How about the "iForOneWelcomeOur...".

      On second thought - nah...

    4. Re:I bet... by JCSoRocks · · Score: 5, Informative

      A team of namers is given the parameters of the project -
      product / company type
      target audience
      what sort of feeling the name should convey
      the regions that the name will be used in

      Namers then go off on their own and compose massive lists of names. I've seen the names run the gamut from simple mashups of common words to mashups of greek / latin roots to words based on etymological research of the original target "feeling" words. Then the namers get together and reduce the list down to a set of finalists before presenting them for client review.

      Sometimes it takes a few iterations... Particularly if the objective is to get a globally trademarkable word that won't be misinterpreted as meaning anything offensive in another country.

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    5. Re:I bet... by paeanblack · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Naming is actually a really big business and is usually a pretty painful process. I know someone that was a professional namer that worked for a big branding house for a while. The time they spent coming up with names was pretty incredible.

      F/OSS, in general, fails miserably here. "Linpus Lite" on the EEE PCs? WTF?

      The name should not matter, but in reality, it does. Unfortunately, OSS projects seem to only accept a rebranding under threats of legal action.

    6. Re:I bet... by frission · · Score: 3, Interesting

      same goes for logos. I remember a friend of mine saying that he got to see the Nike sketchbook, he said the original brainstorm of "possible" logos was as thick as a bible (if the bible was printed on regular paper, not the thin paper).

      in the end, all the work for a swoosh :)

    7. Re:I bet... by sorak · · Score: 4, Funny

      So, what kind of names do their children have? Did they spend months obsessively trying to determine a name that conveys "don't beat me up, now, please hire me later"?

    8. Re:I bet... by dubl-u · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And I'd add that some places actively test the names, as well. E.g., asking what people think in focus groups of different names. Or, more subtly, showing a new product to different people with different names on it, and getting stats about their reactions.

      Depending too much on what executives personally think of names is dangerous, because executives are very rarely representative of the target market. That lesson applies to lots of other things, too, like features and pricing.

    9. Re:I bet... by No-Cool-Nickname · · Score: 5, Funny

      it's a toilet, what should we call it? iShit

      it's an intravenous drug, what should we call it? iNject.

      it's an Apple fan boy, what should we call it? iDiot.

      (just a little joke, Macaniacs..)

    10. Re:I bet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      "it's a toilet, what should we call it? iShit"

      In the Health care industy, a shit is callws a 'BM' (stands for bowel movement)

      So an Apple toilet would be called... oh wait, you think big blues lawyers would have an iSue with that?

    11. Re:I bet... by Logic+Bomb · · Score: 4, Funny

      Mitch Hedberg had a bit on one of his comedy CDs about product naming. Paraphrasing: take whatever the product does and add "er."

      "What's this thing do?"

      "It keeps things fresh."

      "Then that's a fresher. I'm goin' on break."

    12. Re:I bet... by cheater512 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hey if there was a patchy helicopter with me in its cross hairs I would be running pretty fast - not that running would do me much good. :P

    13. Re:I bet... by b96miata · · Score: 4, Informative

      it was InfoGear, who were later acquired by cisco, who later used the same trademark to launch another, unrelated product under the linksys brand. There's a whole blurb about it on the iPhone's wikipedia article. While I never bought any of the products in question, they all seem to have been available from the usual channels at their time of launch.

  2. His explanation of Google's name is BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He says before Google, all the search engines were engineering names like WebCrawler, Webfinder, Websearcher, etc.

    Apparently he never heard of search engines like AltaVista, Yahoo!, Lycos, etc. Seriously? Names are his business and he doesn't remember any of those?

    1. Re:His explanation of Google's name is BS by chibiace · · Score: 4, Funny

      man those last ones you said are really from the past, im having trouble remembering them too. when was the last time you heard of yahoo?

      --
      he who controls the spice controls the universe
  3. Quick, someone mail this article... by Fallingcow · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... to the GIMP devs.

  4. Re:MSFT by Mateo_LeFou · · Score: 5, Funny

    "If you want to keep us secure, take a page from Linux and open up your OS to public scrutiny so that people can perfect it. What are you afraid of?"

    You must be new here

    >mfh (56)

    or not

    --
    My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
  5. No Copyright For Names by John+Hasler · · Score: 3, Informative

    > ...free of copyright ... gotchas.

    A name cannot have any "copyright gotchas" . Names cannot be protected by copyright.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  6. Re:what about the one that concerns us all... by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 4, Funny

    RTFFAQ.

    http://slashdot.org/faq/slashmeta.shtml#sm150

    --
    Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
  7. Second? Try third. by jspenguin1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Firefox was actually the third name. Its original name was Phoenix (it rose from the ashes of Netscape), but Phoenix Technologies raised a fuss. Then it became Firebird, and the Firebird database team raised a fuss. Then it became Firefox, and Debian didn't like that and called it IceWeasel. Anyone remember the FireSomething plugin that would randomly change the name.

    1. Re:Second? Try third. by barzok · · Score: 4, Informative

      Then it became Firefox, and Debian didn't like that and called it IceWeasel.

      No, Debian was forced to rename it due to their stance on trademarks.

      The Firefox logo is trademarked, so Debian doesn't consider it to be Free and will not include it as part of its distribution. Mozilla claims that using the Firefox name without the official branding is a trademark violation.

      Furthermore, Mozilla claims that if Debian runs any patches to the version of Firefox included with Debian distros, it has to run them by Mozilla first for approval.

      http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3634591

    2. Re:Second? Try third. by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The second iteration was actually probably the better, branding-wise.

      They were all set -- Firebird for web, Thunderbird for email, Sunbird for calendar -- even things like Songbird for music. I think there were even logos.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  8. Re:MSFT by Moridineas · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Name it what you want, but the RESULT is what gives products their reputations, not the names of said products. The only saving grace of XP is how terrible Vista was received by the public, so in comparison, XP looked much better. And how interesting this is to me because I remember how terrible XP was in the beginning.

    I think that's BS. Other than a small subset of people who were upset about activation, XP was pretty good from the get go. SP1 made it good without reservations. (and I don't mean this is a big linux vs Windows vs Mac flamefest) Most people switching to XP had been using 95/98/ME. XP--without reservation--is better than all of them. If you were coming from 2K, it was less of a jump, but still an improvement for most users (imho, I know some people debate this last point).

  9. Re:Windows 7 by Tadrith · · Score: 3, Informative

    I believe it's based on the official major releases of Windows NT, since the 9x kernel was abandoned.

    1. Windows NT 3.1
    2. Windows NT 3.5
    3. Windows NT 4.0
    4. Windows 2000
    5. Windows XP
    6. Windows Vista
    7. Windows 7

  10. Debian was ok with Firefox by John+Hasler · · Score: 5, Informative

    > Then it became Firefox, and Debian didn't like that and called it IceWeasel.

    Debian had no objection whatever to calling it Firefox. Mozilla objected to Debian doing so.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  11. German naming process... by zappepcs · · Score: 5, Funny

    A couple decades back there was a German man with his own branding/naming company. A Japanese company, not satisfied with their experience for English speaking markets, called him up and asked him to help out with a new car. Naturally, he inquired as to the project timeline, due dates etc.

    Nervously, the Japanese marketer replied that they needed something for the following Monday.

    After a few moments pause, the German replied "Dat Soon? eh?"

    Later that same year he took a trip to London on business. While eating at a local steakhouse, he asked "what's dis here sauce?"

    --
    Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
    1. Re:German naming process... by AdamWeeden · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have mod points, but I can't seem to find the "-1 Groan" or "-1 Throw a Tomato" mod options.

      --
      I was quoted out of context in my autobiography...
    2. Re:German naming process... by carou · · Score: 4, Informative

      Pun fail.

      It's pronounced like ""wuster"".

  12. Gimp by mfh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Quick, someone mail this article... (Score:4, Funny)

    Yes, what you said is funny, but seriously now I had to pitch using a free image suite to a customer who was kinda penny-pinching, and when I suggested that we "bring out the GIMP" the customer started laughing at me, and they became somewhat violent. I ducked the coffee she threw at me, but only after I explained (while dodging numerous other desk utensils) that GIMP stood for "GNU Image Manipulation Program" did the abuse dwindle.

    And then she said, "What the hell does a GNU have to do with anything? You people are all fucking crazy!! ARRRRRGHHHHH!!!!" And she had a coronary and passed out from too much bacon and eggs... cholesterol rich, fatty foods, apparently add up over the years.

    Why couldn't they call it something like "Expensive Looking Free Graphics Suite" so like people could present it and be cheered for mentioning the product? The customer might have invited me to join her for a cup of coffee instead of hurl the damn thing at me. Although that tends to be reduced to "ELFGS" which sounds equally as annoying.

    Let's have a name-fork of the project! I vote for the name "Rez". That way, I could say, "MRS. Customer, we have just what you need in the Rez project, a free graphics utility. I'm not sure what this GIMP project is you keep balking at, but the last guy who brought up that project is a fool. Go with our project instead and we'll use Rez. It sounds cooler."

    Of course I'm joking around a little but apart from my exaggeration, this was the level of irritation expressed by said customer in regards to the GIMP moniker.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  13. Re:MSFT by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Name it what you want, but the RESULT is what gives products their reputations, not the names of said products.

    Amen. And think about it... Micro-soft itself is a pretty ho-hum name, in fact it's downright lame. Today, if the company name would be still available, no one in their right mind would give their software firm a name like that, even freelancing consultants wouldn't be so silly as to pick that as their firm's name. But they rose to greatness (in influence and dollars if not reputation for quality), and thus the name lost its lameness and became associated with an extremely succesful tech company.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  14. Microsoft "Innovates" a lot by jonaskoelker · · Score: 3, Funny

    Who cares if we find out that you people at Microsoft haven't done any real work since 1990... we ALREADY KNOW THAT.

    Nah, their consumer OSes have seen the addition of memory protection. Beore then, Microsoft did some real doesn't-work.

  15. Re:the new way: by Lars+T. · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hint: it'll probably be spelt strangely.

    What do you know? http://www.speltstrangely.com/ is available!

    Finally a name for my OSS speech recognition project!

    --

    Lars T.

    To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  16. Re:the new way: by dubl-u · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, by all means someone should start selling a Skami Computer, hopefully via infomercial! I'd recommend filling out the product line with a "Do!Be!Us!" smartphone, a "Krapee" monitor line, the "De-Funk(t)" music player, the "Borkt" series of printers, and the "InnerFierce" wireless networking gear.

    But please, if you do this, make sure you set up your "world headquarters" in a semi-abandoned strip mall, and move it every time the landlord kicks you out for non-payment. (And no, you can't ever pay rent when running a scam. A penny stolen is a penny earned.)

    The good news is you'll be able to sell Vista on this stuff without increasing your complaint load. Heck, given the target audience, you could probably charge them for two copies and call it Double Vista.

  17. Naming of Panasonic and Epson by jasmak · · Score: 3, Interesting
    My grandfather was involved in the naming of both of these rather large Japanese companies as a VP when they were trying to cross over to the U.S. and I have heard the stories hundreds of times so I figured this is a good venue to share them.

    Panasonic (Originally Matsushita) actually got the name of their company from a review of one of their speaker systems. The article said that they had great "all around sound." All around translates to pana and sound translates to sound.

    Epson (Originally Seiko) made a small printer named the EP-101 which was the worlds first compact, lightweight digital printer. My grandfather found large demand in it in the U.S. so they needed to create a new name to use(Seiko is a watch corp in the US). He told them the story about how Panasonic came about the name and left on a flight back stateside.

    When he got back, he had a message waiting already and they told him that they were naming it Epson. He told them that is a horrible idea because people would confuse it with epsom salt. They told him it was his fault because it was his idea and explained that they were naming it based on their first product sale like panasonic did. So the name comes from "son of EP" to the more consumer friendly Epson.

    --
    It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.