4 ms·

I agree with the "must have .com" mentality, unless you're targeting a tech-savvy market specifically, then you can get away with the domain hacking (.us, .ly,

I agree with the "must have .com" mentality, unless you're targeting a tech-savvy market specifically, then you can get away with the domain hacking (.us, .ly, .me, etc.) However, let's be honest: your name is not going to make or break you. Don't let choosing a name hold up real progress. If you're sitting there trying to decide what to name your svn/git repo, just call it "myapp" and move on.

BrandonWatson 17y ago
I agree with you that a name shouldn't hold up progress, but a name can break you. My favorite example was taking the Chevy Nova to the Mexican market. Unfortunately, "no va" in Spanish means "doesn't go." Not the best name for a car.
- yosh 17y ago
  You favorite example isn't actually true: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp
  - jp_sc 17y ago
    However, the story of the renaming of the Mitsubishi Pajero is not only true but weirder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Pajero http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Pajero
    - alexitosrv 17y ago
      Similar case to the Mazda Laputa (in spanish: The Whore) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Laputa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Laputa
  - BrandonWatson 17y ago
    Damn snopes...it makes for such a great example. I do, however, stand by the notion that a name can have a net negative impact on a product, especially in a day and age when much product discovery comes through search engines.
grellas 17y ago
"Fatbrain.com," I thought, hurt Computer Literacy Books when it decided to broaden its brand and go public. The name was professionally chosen and got favorable write-ups at the time (2000 era). Though memorable, it somehow had a wrong feel for the nature of the company's business (selling tech-related books in Silicon Valley).
- jamesbritt 17y ago
  {*} Still got the cap! Fatbrain sounds more fun.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
vaksel 17y ago
sure it can, if you pick a name thats hard to spell correctly you pretty much lose all word of mouth references
- BerislavLopac 17y ago
  These days, the "word of mouth" is increasingly becoming the "word of fingers", as most viral ideas spread through typed media (email, forums, Facebook, blogs, messaging, Twitter...) much more than by spoken word.
  - wmeredith 17y ago
    Not to be a wikidick about it, but uh, citation needed. I'd love to see some real data on this.
clemesha 17y ago
Agreed, don't let a name hold you from making progress. That said, continually hunting for a "better" one is worth it. Case in point: I have an app (an interactive, online programming notebook), and it was originally called http://knoboo.com http://knoboo.com. Over the first year or so I agonized over people's butchering of the name, and confusion over the meaning. Over time, I was able to find a better name, http://codenode.org http://codenode.org, and I'm very glad I did.

BrandonWatson 17y ago

I agree with you that a name shouldn't hold up progress, but a name can break you. My favorite example was taking the Chevy Nova to the Mexican market. Unfortunately, "no va" in Spanish means "doesn't go." Not the best name for a car.

yosh 17y ago
You favorite example isn't actually true: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp
- jp_sc 17y ago
  However, the story of the renaming of the Mitsubishi Pajero is not only true but weirder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Pajero http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Pajero
  - alexitosrv 17y ago
    Similar case to the Mazda Laputa (in spanish: The Whore) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Laputa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Laputa
- BrandonWatson 17y ago
  Damn snopes...it makes for such a great example. I do, however, stand by the notion that a name can have a net negative impact on a product, especially in a day and age when much product discovery comes through search engines.

grellas 17y ago

"Fatbrain.com," I thought, hurt Computer Literacy Books when it decided to broaden its brand and go public. The name was professionally chosen and got favorable write-ups at the time (2000 era). Though memorable, it somehow had a wrong feel for the nature of the company's business (selling tech-related books in Silicon Valley).

jamesbritt 17y ago
{*} Still got the cap! Fatbrain sounds more fun.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

vaksel 17y ago

sure it can, if you pick a name thats hard to spell correctly you pretty much lose all word of mouth references

BerislavLopac 17y ago
These days, the "word of mouth" is increasingly becoming the "word of fingers", as most viral ideas spread through typed media (email, forums, Facebook, blogs, messaging, Twitter...) much more than by spoken word.
- wmeredith 17y ago
  Not to be a wikidick about it, but uh, citation needed. I'd love to see some real data on this.

clemesha 17y ago

Agreed, don't let a name hold you from making progress. That said, continually hunting for a "better" one is worth it. Case in point: I have an app (an interactive, online programming notebook), and it was originally called http://knoboo.com http://knoboo.com. Over the first year or so I agonized over people's butchering of the name, and confusion over the meaning. Over time, I was able to find a better name, http://codenode.org http://codenode.org, and I'm very glad I did.