--- Jimmy Wales jwales@bomis.com wrote:
Overall, I think that 'Nupedia' is a much better name than 'Wikipedia', and I sort of wish now that we had simply opened Wikipedia under the name 'Nupedia wiki'.
I don't think I agree.
A name is a name is a name. It is what the name represents that matters. Coke and Dell are recognized and brand names, but not because in and of themselves the names are descriptive or "cute". They have come to represent great products as well as dynamic and innovative companies. The W is getting great name recognition already (dang, even my wife knew of it), so I think at this point, changing the name of the product would be detrimental to the project and to its potential impact.
Some people are sticklers for terminology, and that is good in science and engineering, but marketing is a different beast.
Take the example of Linux. What a crappy name in and of itself... What does it mean? Hard to figure how to pronounce. Hard to write if you just hear it. Yet, in the last 13 years, it's become the talk of the e-town.
I would rather have a unique name that clearly lets the product stand out than a catchy name that becomes generic.
===== Christopher Mahan chris_mahan@yahoo.com 818.943.1850 cell http://www.christophermahan.com/
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