10 Tech Products That Almost Had Horrible Names

What's in a name? A lot, apparently.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Think about your favorite products. Whether it be a laptop, a car, a phone, or a pair of headphones, the name of product goes a long, long way in making it a success. But you'd be remiss to believe that some of the best-named products were labeled so on the first go-around. Never that. It takes a lot of time and effort to get a name just right. We took a look at some of the most popular tech products in recent history—everything from search engines to desktop computers—that almost had the misfortune of being stuck with a horrible handle. 

Amazon.com

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Apple iMac

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Nearly Named: Apple MacMan

One of the best marketing and naming schemes in the history of consumer electronics goes to Apple and its line of i-devices. But if Steve Jobs had his way, it never would have happened. In his book, Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success, former ad executive, and the man behind the "Think Different" campaign, Ken Segall talks about Jobs challenged him and his team to come up with a name better than "MacMan."

From his book:


Our favorite name was one that I'd come up with early in the process: "iMac." It seemed to solve all the problems at once. It was clearly a Mac. The i conveyed that this was a Mac designed to get you onto the Internet. It was also a perfectly succinct name--just a single letter added to the word "Mac." It didn't sound like a toy and it didn't sound portable. Using the word "Mac" in the product name was more of a revolution than you might realize. At that time, "Macintosh" had yet to be shortened to a more colloquial "Mac" in the name of any Apple computer. For Simplicity and minimalism, "iMac" seemed to be perfect.


And of course, there was also one other small advantage that came with the name "iMac." It created an interesting foundation upon which Apple could name future consumer products. Maybe, possibly, somehow, some¬time, Apple would see fit to create another "i" product?

The rest is history.

Microsoft Windows

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Yahoo!

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Twitter

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Google

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Square

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Sony Walkman

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Apple Safari

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Nintendo Wii

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