[thelist] Naming companies (was:evil buzzword alert)

> i remember an article in (maybe) Discover magazine (maybe it was 
> Wired, a Negroponte thing? wired's site appears to be down) a few 
> years ago where they discussed the butchering of words and 
> names to create evocative words for cars and computers...
> 
> aptiva.
> alero.
> etc...
> 
> i'm a word freak, and every time i hear one of these i think it's 
> someone mispronouncing something... it sounds silly... it sounds 
> like a malapropism as well...
> 
> 
	[Atkins, Chris]  You can thank Lewis Carroll for these kinds of
words...
	and even what we call them- portmanteaus.  There was some other
	little known guy that basically "made up" a bunch of words- er, what
	was his name...  ah, yes, Shakespeare.

	Personally, I really like "Aptiva" and "Alero".  I think they sound
great,
	not silly.

	I suppose I owe this now, someone may have mentioned it before,
	but at the risk of being repetitive (and being currently short on
tips):

	<tip type="books">
	http://www.bestbookbuys.com/

	Search engine that compares prices on books from over 25
	different online bookstores.  Returns results of availability,
price,
	estimated shipping time, and shipping costs.
	</tip>

	Which reminds me of:
	<tip type="brands">
	The days of ubiquitous shop-bots, automated bidding, and "perfect"
	markets are coming, sooner than you might think.  If your main
	selling proposition is lowest price, you need to re-examine your
	strategy.  Think _service_.
	</tip>