Term of the Moment
brain-machine interface
Redirected from: branding fiascos
Definition: naming fiascos
One could write volumes about the thoughtless naming of technical concepts and products in this industry. Not just products, but the shortsighted naming of routines and statements programmers use when writing source code causes massive headaches later when others try to read it. Not to be forgotten is the constant renaming of the same application by marketers who believe new names mean new business. See USB drive names, digital media hub terminology and never say.
Never Use Ordinary Words
A huge mistake is perpetrated when everyday words are used for specific technologies. "Object" is a very useful English word because it can describe any "object" whatsoever. When object-oriented programming was the hot buzzword years ago, "object" had to be stricken from the English language when writing about software development in order to not imply object technologies.
Tongue Twisters
Years ago, the PCMCIA association introduced the "PC Card," an external plug-in card for a laptop. However, a PC card also referred to any peripheral control card that plugged into a socket inside a desktop PC. As a result, people would forget the official name and say "P-C-M-C-I-A card" instead, pronouncing all six letters. Happily that technology is history.
Just Not Thinking
When Facebook was created, it defined a user's page as a "profile" and a business page as a "page." Because websites are nothing but Web pages, it is only natural for people to say "I posted this on my Facebook page." No harm done; not even any confusion, just one more of the thousands of examples that show no forethought in naming products. Tech people love to make up names. In fact, they are required to do it all the time when writing code because each routine they create in their programs must be uniquely named. See subroutine.
Famous Names - Who Needs Them?
Marketing hype is often more important than clever marketing. Enamored by the Web frenzy in the mid-1990s, Novell added some Internet functions to NetWare, a brand known the world over, and renamed it "IntranetWare." Not only did the most familiar name in networking disappear, but the word was hard to pronounce. Novell soon switched back to NetWare. Similarly, Borland, a software company widely known throughout the industry, changed its name to Inprise and buried another familiar name. It later reverted back to Borland.
From Twitter to X
Of course, what may turn out to be the single most confusing name change is Twitter's 2023 rebirth as "X." Tweets became "posts," and retweets became "reposts." However, after a year, people were still referring to "Twitter" and "tweets," and both the old and new terms will likely be used for the foreseeable future. Time will tell how much confusion this brings. For now, the term "X/Twitter" refers to X in this encyclopedia. See X.com, X/Twitter and Twitterese.
Let's Drive People Crazy
Allow Da Fup What??
Never Use Ordinary Words
A huge mistake is perpetrated when everyday words are used for specific technologies. "Object" is a very useful English word because it can describe any "object" whatsoever. When object-oriented programming was the hot buzzword years ago, "object" had to be stricken from the English language when writing about software development in order to not imply object technologies.
Tongue Twisters
Years ago, the PCMCIA association introduced the "PC Card," an external plug-in card for a laptop. However, a PC card also referred to any peripheral control card that plugged into a socket inside a desktop PC. As a result, people would forget the official name and say "P-C-M-C-I-A card" instead, pronouncing all six letters. Happily that technology is history.
Just Not Thinking
When Facebook was created, it defined a user's page as a "profile" and a business page as a "page." Because websites are nothing but Web pages, it is only natural for people to say "I posted this on my Facebook page." No harm done; not even any confusion, just one more of the thousands of examples that show no forethought in naming products. Tech people love to make up names. In fact, they are required to do it all the time when writing code because each routine they create in their programs must be uniquely named. See subroutine.
Famous Names - Who Needs Them?
Marketing hype is often more important than clever marketing. Enamored by the Web frenzy in the mid-1990s, Novell added some Internet functions to NetWare, a brand known the world over, and renamed it "IntranetWare." Not only did the most familiar name in networking disappear, but the word was hard to pronounce. Novell soon switched back to NetWare. Similarly, Borland, a software company widely known throughout the industry, changed its name to Inprise and buried another familiar name. It later reverted back to Borland.
From Twitter to X
Of course, what may turn out to be the single most confusing name change is Twitter's 2023 rebirth as "X." Tweets became "posts," and retweets became "reposts." However, after a year, people were still referring to "Twitter" and "tweets," and both the old and new terms will likely be used for the foreseeable future. Time will tell how much confusion this brings. For now, the term "X/Twitter" refers to X in this encyclopedia. See X.com, X/Twitter and Twitterese.
There must have been a contest for the most idiotic names one could think of for the internal folders in this early digital camera. "100msdcf," "Moml0001" and "Momlv100." Really. What was wrong with "image," "audio" and "video?" For more nonsense, see user interface.
Perhaps a tad more informative message would have been "can devices in the vicinity access your device?" See Device Association Framework and user interface.