3 ms·

How Popular Tech Companies Got Their Names

18 points by dragonquest 17y ago

chriskelley 17y ago
There's an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to company name etymologies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologie... Neat stuff.
aw3c2 17y ago
Submitted page just has one void paragraph and then this image: http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/namesofcompany.jpg http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/wp-content/uploads/2010/03... Bottom of the page says "via Reddit" without linking to the actual source so this is spam, even if it is a "big site".
- stilist 17y ago
  I was also wondering about the source, given the repeated ‘Glassnost Mushtalk's Corner’ watermark. I have no idea where it all originated, but evidently it’s pretty popular to rip: http://google.com/search?q=%22this+name+was+formed+by+using+comp%22 http://google.com/search?q=%22this+name+was+formed+by+using+...
megaduck 17y ago
We chose our company name (Mad Wombat Software) because it's easy to spell, easy to remember, and the domain name was available. I can't tell you how many other names we had to discard because we couldn't get the domain. I now feel quite strongly that domain name squatters should go die in a fire. They made the process way more painful and distracting than it should have been.
philwelch 17y ago
Maybe not a popular tech company, but a fun etymology: IBM (International Business Machines) was so named just so Thomas Watson, a former employee of NCR (National Cash Register) could one-up his old employer. Also, I've read that the reason Intel wasn't named "Moore-Noyce" is because "more noise" is a bad thing in electronics. Which reminds me of a flashback scene from The Simpsons where Homer keeps rejecting baby names because he can think of all the insulting nicknames other kids on the playground will think of for them.
zoba 17y ago
I had heard Apple got its name from the story about an apple hitting Newton's head, though this site doesn't mention it. I also heard a, less credible, rumour that it had to do with Turing instead of Newton because the Apple logo has a bite taken out of it.
- dragonquest 17y ago
  I've also heard the same. The multicolored apple in the logo was apparently supposed to signify the cyanide that caused Turing's death.
  - dhs 17y ago
    Here's an interview with Rob Janoff, the designer of the original Apple logo, in which he debunks this and other stories about its design: http://creativebits.org/interview/interview_rob_janoff_designer_apple_logo http://creativebits.org/interview/interview_rob_janoff_desig...

18 points by dragonquest 17y ago

There's an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to company name etymologies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologie... Neat stuff.

aw3c2 17y ago

Submitted page just has one void paragraph and then this image: http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/namesofcompany.jpg http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/wp-content/uploads/2010/03... Bottom of the page says "via Reddit" without linking to the actual source so this is spam, even if it is a "big site".

stilist 17y ago
I was also wondering about the source, given the repeated ‘Glassnost Mushtalk's Corner’ watermark. I have no idea where it all originated, but evidently it’s pretty popular to rip: http://google.com/search?q=%22this+name+was+formed+by+using+comp%22 http://google.com/search?q=%22this+name+was+formed+by+using+...

megaduck 17y ago

We chose our company name (Mad Wombat Software) because it's easy to spell, easy to remember, and the domain name was available. I can't tell you how many other names we had to discard because we couldn't get the domain. I now feel quite strongly that domain name squatters should go die in a fire. They made the process way more painful and distracting than it should have been.

philwelch 17y ago

Maybe not a popular tech company, but a fun etymology: IBM (International Business Machines) was so named just so Thomas Watson, a former employee of NCR (National Cash Register) could one-up his old employer. Also, I've read that the reason Intel wasn't named "Moore-Noyce" is because "more noise" is a bad thing in electronics. Which reminds me of a flashback scene from The Simpsons where Homer keeps rejecting baby names because he can think of all the insulting nicknames other kids on the playground will think of for them.

zoba 17y ago

I had heard Apple got its name from the story about an apple hitting Newton's head, though this site doesn't mention it. I also heard a, less credible, rumour that it had to do with Turing instead of Newton because the Apple logo has a bite taken out of it.

dragonquest 17y ago
I've also heard the same. The multicolored apple in the logo was apparently supposed to signify the cyanide that caused Turing's death.
- dhs 17y ago
  Here's an interview with Rob Janoff, the designer of the original Apple logo, in which he debunks this and other stories about its design: http://creativebits.org/interview/interview_rob_janoff_designer_apple_logo http://creativebits.org/interview/interview_rob_janoff_desig...