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How 6 Memorable Tech Companies Got Their Names

Posted by samzenpus on from the what's-in-a-name? dept.

itwbennett writes "If Larry Page and Sergey Brin had stuck with the first name for their search engine, we'd be 'BackRubbing' instead of Googling. But the fun doesn't stop there. The unforgettable Go Daddy was first saddled with the eminently Seussian moniker 'Jomax Technologies.' And as for Yahoo!... its original name just rolled off the tongue: 'Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web.'"

1 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Names really do make a difference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    When Ubuntu first came out, I sent away for a bunch of the disks. I tried giving them away here in rural flyover USA..I got one taker, and that was a hard sell on my part. People heard that name, asked what the heck it was, I tried explaining it was an African word and...no one wants anything to do with Africa, instant turn off. People just don't associate much of anything worthwhile as coming from Africa. It's not racist per se, just..when is the last time you heard of anything at all worthwhile coming from there, something you might see in a store or something? That name alone has slowed adoption of that operating system I bet.