I’m considering upgrading my name. Either “Matt 2.0″ or “Stibbr.” What’s your 2.0 name?
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How to name things
I just listened to an insightful, acute and funny radio show by legendary writer Clive James. He attacks companies that change their names and the verbal gymnastics they go through to come up with new words. Here’s a snippet: Such changes of name were once made by freshly appointed executives who wanted to announce their [...]
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How about “Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate UPGRADE Limited Numbered Signature Edition”? This is the best yet. I wish they would get me to write some copy about that. I’d only have to mention it a few times to reach my word count and get paid! Brought to you by Strategic Name Development. Thanks.
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I saw an interesting article posted about the “G’zOne,” a new phone possibly from Casio on the great Strategic Name Development Blog. The author, William Lozito, says that the name “left most consumers scratching their heads.” Not really surprising. Some good examples of technology names: Mac, iPod, Windows, Razr. It may be difficult to come [...]
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In science fiction, there seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to naming things, like spaceships, created by ‘aliens’. The first is to use almost-unpronounceable strings of vowels and, mainly, consonants. The other, better way is the way of Iain M. Banks who gives his names witty, mock-ironic names. For example: Nervous [...]
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Years ago, a games company called Broderbund released a game called Myst. It was very pretty and sold very well so they decided to release the game in Germany. But they didn’t change the name. In German, ‘Myst’ sounds a lot like ‘crap’. Oops. Then there’s the Microsoft’s delightfully-named ‘One Care’ which to British ears [...]
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Okay, so I’m a real offender. My job title is completely made up: “Writer in chief”. I toyed with “Chief Writing Officer” too but it sounded less commanding. I once met a chap whose official job title was “Proud dad.” When I visited the now-defunct General Magic in the mid-nineties they all had job titles [...]
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I just wrote a news item on my other site, ModernPilot.com, about a new jet’s first flight. It’s called the D-JET. It made me think about different planes I flown: PA-28, DV-20, SR-20, SR-22, PC-12. Pretty boring names, don’t you think? Hardly capturing the thrill of flight. Manufacturers sometimes give names to the numbers, so [...]
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Naming companies is very difficult. I used to run a computer games company called Intelligent Games and I came up with the name when I was 18 and had to live with it for over ten years. It seemed right when I wanted to do historical simulations but as the company grew and moved into [...]
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Product names are rich vein of bad English, or no English at all. For example, look at HP.
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