How 10 Famous Technology Products Got Their Names

From iPod and BlackBerry to Twitter and Wikipedia, we take a look at the processes and people who came up with the names for these iconic tech products.

Coming up with a great technology product or service is only half the battle these days. Creating a name for said product that is at once cool but not too cool or exclusionary, marketable to both early adopters and a broader audience, and, of course, isn’t already in use and protected by various trademarks and copyright laws is difficult—to say the least.

The makers of these 10 tech products—the iPod, BlackBerry, Firefox, Twitter, Windows 7, ThinkPad, Android, Wikipedia, Mac OS X and the “Big Cats,” and Red Hat Linux—all have displayed certain amounts marketing savvy, common sense and fun-loving spirit in settling on their products’ names. Here are the intriguing, surprising and sometimes predictable accounts of their creation.

[Check out the Slideshow on CIO.com]

How to Monitor Your Brand 24/7

Twitter is the canary in the coal mine of public opinion — for celebrities, politicians, and, of course, corporations. When European discount carrier Ryanair lashed out at “lunatic bloggers” after a Web designer reported a glitch on the airline’s site, its online reputation dipped as low as its fares. Conversely, Mars got a sweet treat when it posted Skittles-related tweets on its Web site, learning immediately how people felt about the candy.

Twitter’s explosion from microblogging curiosity to mass-media phenomenon [0] has awakened a lot of companies to just how fast memes spread on the Internet today. Make a mistake like Ryanair’s — or Johnson & Johnson’s offensive Motrin ads last winter — and the response is brutal. Get it right like shoe retailer Zappos and bask in the love. How can you know if your canary is singing or dead? These tools will help you monitor not just Twitter but everywhere the online conversation involves your brand. read more

The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World

For marketers, Web 2.0 offers a remarkable new opportunity to engage consumers.

If only they knew how to do it.

That’s where this article aims to help. We interviewed more than 30 executives and managers in both large and small organizations that are at the forefront of experimenting with Web 2.0 tools. From those conversations and further research, we identified a set of emerging principles for marketing.

But first, a more basic question: What is Web 2.0, anyway? Essentially, it encompasses the set of tools that allow people to build social and business connections, share information and collaborate on projects online. That includes blogs, wikis, social-networking sites and other online communities, and virtual worlds. read more

11 Businesses You Can Start In Your Pajamas

For the above entrepreneurs, wearing pajamas for a day at the office isn’t far from reality. From pet care to virtual assistants and even online dating, we found entrepreneurs who are not just enjoying work from their living rooms and bedrooms, but they are also making a good living at it. In one case, a business owner grossed $10 million in a year, and cleared half that amount. Here’s a look at the hottest industries for home-based entrepreneurs — illustrated with some fun CEO self-portraits. read more

The Wired Presidency: Can Obama Really Reboot The White House?

In November, not two weeks after winning the election and still two months from becoming commander in chief, Barack Obama brought the government into the 21st century. Or at least that was what we were told when he released his first Web video address as president-elect. The clip, billed by some as a modern fireside chat, was embedded as a YouTube video on Change.gov, the incoming administration’s Web site. Sitting in a leather chair, framed slightly off center from his chest up, Obama delivered a three-minute talk on the economic crisis, vlog style. read more

How To Reward A Million Dollar Idea

Two years ago, Noah Weiss, a young programmer who spent the summer working here at Fog Creek Software, came to me with a business idea. Noah, who was still in college, had noticed that a lot of smaller tech-related blogs were running classified ads for job listings. He suggested that we do the same thing on my company’s blog, Joel on Software. The site is read by thousands of programmers a month — the ones who are so good at programming they have spare time at work to read the self-absorbed drivel I publish there. read more

Word-of-Mouth on Blogs and Other Sites Attracts Fans…and a Record Deal

In late 2006, Justin Vernon, a musician in Eau Claire, Wis., recorded nine songs while staying at his parents’ hunting cabin in northern Wisconsin after a breakup with a girlfriend and his long-time band. He used just a desktop computer with recording software, a three-piece drum set and a guitar.

A few months later, Mr. Vernon posted the songs on his MySpace page, hoping to get some listeners and feedback. He also printed 500 copies of a CD with those songs to sell to friends and fans and send to music bloggers for review.

He got that and much more. read more

The Education of an Educated CEO

Twelve years ago, Jeff Koeze surprised his wife, his parents, and himself by agreeing to give up a comfortable life teaching law to take over the then-86-year-old family business. At 36, the professor was going to become a nut man.

His father, Scott Koeze (pronounced KOO-zee), was sick of running Koeze Co., which was doing about $7 million a year, mostly in mail order, primarily in cashews. That worried Jeff enough that he insisted that his father not stick around any longer than two years. If the elder Koeze ended up refusing to leave, Jeff had a golden parachute: two years of salary. Moving from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jeff and his wife, Kate, even chose a house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Koeze Co. is based, that they figured would be easy to resell. “I wanted a risk-free out if it didn’t work,” Jeff says.

Instead, a few months after Jeff showed up, his father went on vacation and didn’t come back. Didn’t return phone calls, either. “I know your dad — he’s retired,” a longtime worker told Jeff.

Koeze was in disbelief. “That just can’t be,” he replied. But it was. read more

Do Brands Belong on Twitter?

Behind every Twitter account is a person. But some of these people ‘hide’ behind organizational brands, obscuring their persona and therefore reducing authenticity and transparency.

While some brands do a decent job of engaging people on Twitter, many don’t, and one could further argue that brand names and logos, as opposed to full names and user images, are not in the spirit of the Twitterverse. read more

LISTEN UP: Music To My Ears

Here’s something new I’m gonna try on my blog – adding a music component to it. Let me know what you think…the one above is: Charles Hamilton – BROOKLYN GIRL. read more

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