Welcome to CNET Top 5, the perfect show for fans of counting things.
I'm Tom Merritt.
The history of technology is riddled with bad attempts at naming
things. Microsoft Bob. Lindows, Profileactic.
But which ones are the worst? I polled friends, family, and the
Internet to get ideas, and have assembled what I think are the worst
tech product names so far.
Let's count 'em down.
At No. 5, PlaysForSure, the name for Microsoft's certification system,
so you knew your music would play on a device carrying this label.
Unless it was iTunes. Or OGG Vorbis. Or freaking Microsft's own Zune
tracks! Do you know what always plays for sure? MP3!
Coming in at No. 4, Sony Vega, I mean Wega, I mean Vega. Which is
it?!!! Well apparently it's VEGA, because Sony says they named it
after the star, but the star is spelled V-E-G-A not W_E-G-A. Sony did
buy a German firm that made VEGAs spelled with a W, so why not admit
it. Or spell it with a V. Or just name it something else!!
Up to No. 3, Flooz. A famous dot-com era failure it was meant to
replace money. All fine and dandy as far as it goes, but why would I
want my new virtual currency to be named after a nickname for
prostitutes?
Sliding in at No. 2, the Nintendo Wii. Remember when it was called the
Revolution? It sounded pretty awesome then. But then they got smart
and named it after a slang term for urine. But it's not urine because
it's spelled with two I's. (still sounds like urine)
Before we get to No. 1, time for another lame prize.
Here's the deal. Be one of the first to answer the question correctly
at the post for this Top 5 at blog.cnettv.com and you could be chosen
to win...this pack of iaPeel. Inkjet printable skins for the 2nd
generation iPod Touch.
Here's the question.
What was the name of the Linux computers sold at Wal-Mart that was sued
by Microsoft for brand confusion with Windows?
blog.cnettv.com
All right. Let's get to our No. 1. The worst tech product name. By
popular demand.
At No. 1, it's...the Apple iPad. If you've paid any attention to Molly
Wood at all since the announcement, you know what she and many think of
this name. And it was overwhelmingly the name that came to mind when I
asked folks for the stupidest product name they could think of. And
Apple should have known better than to rip off IBM and Lenova like
that. That's the problem right? ThinkPad, iPad. What? Ohhhhhhh. Oh
that's kinda disgusting.
Well That's it for this edition of CNET Top 5.
Don't forget to answer our trivia question at blog.cnettv.com for a
chance to win iapeel. You know why.
I'm Tom Merritt. See you next time.
