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August 28, 2009

Technology Branding and Naming: Dead Terms Rounded Up

There are apparently twelve tech words out there that are officially outdated; I was surprised to see that "The World Wide Web" and "Long-Distance Call" both made the list.

There are a few other, more subtle surprises that have come to light in the last year - apparently "PageRank optimization" has been dead for almost year as has "reciprocal linking" but these are still, admittedly, rather specialized in comparison. While on the subject of specialized names, none of us will miss, "Gopher RFC", "Veronica"", "Finger" or "Archie," all of which, taken together, sound like the names of an ill-fated gang.

Apparently the term that helped hasten the death of the "World Wide Web" (despite the fact that every second a few million people type "www" into their browser and at least a few must wonder what it means) was the "Worldwide Interweb," a jokey term made up by Steve Czaban (see YouTube Video below) . Collateral damage to the demise of the World Wide Web is the term "Information Superhighway", which is just naff and I believe died a few years ago.

Of course some of these reports of "dead" tech terms are premature. I recently read an piece form 2007 declaring that Microsoft was "dead" and last I checked they seem to be just fine. I do agree with Kris Abel that the name "netbook" is alive and well and should remain in common usage - although I think it has a short shelf life.

I also have been watching with interest the development (or not) of the Apple "Tablet" which some have called the "Apple slate tablet" or the Apple Slate. That term "slate" is finished, as is "UMPC." You can have a "tablet" but a "slate tablet" is pretty much impossible.

Anyway, Steve Jobs seems in no hurry to release either.

Technorati Tags: Technology Terms, Apple Slate, Apple Tablet, Apple Slate Tablet, Technology Branding, Technology Naming

Posted by William Lozito at August 28, 2009 8:53 AM
Posted to Brand Naming | Branding | Company Naming | Marketing | Naming | Technology

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