NEWS+BLOG

Getting a product name right can make a huge difference and, for something like Ipods change the way the world speaks. Some names have great historical context, some are cobbled together and some simply happen. For example TiVo came about by a merger of TV and the engineering acronym I/O which stands for ‘input/output’.

The reason Bluetooth sounds nothing like what it does is centuries old. In the 10th century a Danish king united the various fiefdoms in Scandinavia under one flag. His name was Harald Blatand which translates into English as Bluetooth. The developers wanted to communicate how their product united many different forms of technology and a 10th century Danish king was, apparently, the obvious answer.

The Blackberry was originally called Strawberry in during development because the keys looked liked pips on strawberry. Someone thought straw sounded a bit old and slow so they picked another fruit as a temporary name - which ended up becoming permanent. It was just pure chance that their biggest competitor ended up being another fruit.