iPad?

[franceslievens]

I'm not the only one to think Apple has launched a wonderful new device with the dullest name ever. "Here it is: the iPad!" It must be an electronic bandage. Pronounced with the significant slur of the Dutch speaking foreigner you get a toad with earphones. Or apple-scented coffee for your Senseo coffee-maker. No, I still prefer iSlate, even though that has a bit of an educational ring to it*.

*It would work very well in a school context. The children's news program on Ketnet had an item on a class where every child has a iPod Touch to work on. They use it as a dictionary, to check things out on the internet, make notes...

Comments

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Somehow a slightly misleading or even unsavoury name doesn't necessarily damage a product's chances of success on the market. Just think of the Wii.

And I say this as someone who freelanced for a company inventing brandnames: I think there's been a shift from avoiding possible mockery to embracing it.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't say it would damage the product! I just found it funny that "pad" is toad in Dutch, so an iPad, would be a toad with earphones.

[thestormcellar.livejournal.com]

In the US, pad often refers to a feminine sanitary napkin. {Always Maxi Pads is a particular brand and size).

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I had thought of that as well, but wasn't sure.