Does Netbook = Low Cost Small Notebook PC?

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/article/166052/microsoft_proposes_wordy_new_name_for_netbooks.html' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/article/1660...r_netbooks.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The marketing geniuses in Redmond are at it again. From the folks who brought us "Zune," "Bing," and "MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search" comes a new name for the venerable netbook. Digitimes reports that Microsoft will refer to netbooks as "low cost small notebook PCs," according to Microsoft's Steven Guggenheimer. Try saying that ten times fast. Microsoft's rationale for the name-change? A netbook can do more than just get you online, so it should be called something else. There's no arguing that&mdash;some new netbooks hitting the market can even handle 1080p video, thanks to a bolstered graphics system."</em></p><p>At first I was thinking that this was simply a result of the pending Psion lawsuit, but then I recalled that the issue had been dropped and the term netbook was again fair game.&nbsp; The article comes up with a pretty simple reason for the more descriptive name - Windows 7.&nbsp; Microsoft does not want the everything in the netbook category to be eligible for the starter version of Windows 7, especially if they are capable of running a more expensive version of the OS.&nbsp; Regardless, I'm still calling them netbooks.</p>

[EscapePod]

"LCSNs" kinda just rolls off the tongue <img src="http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Big Grin" class="inlineimg" />

[Jason Dunn]

LCSN = fail

Netbook = FTW!

:D

[randalllewis]

I am in full agreement Microsoft has a tendancy to screw up product names because they are too often: a. trying to make the lawyers happy; b. assure everything the company does is somehow tied to Windows; c. believe that the joke name the focus group came up with was a serious suggestion; or d. are still using that same random word generator program that developers use to name sub-divisions and shopping centers.

That said, it seems the author of this PC World article is guilty of critcism for its own sake. Making fun of Microsoft's goofy long and unusable product names is fair game but this yahoo tosses Bing and Zune in as bad examples in the same category. That's just wrong. Zune frankly isn't my favorite product name but it has grown on me. And it is certainly no sillier than "Google." Bing on the other hand is actually pretty good. It has all the attributes of a good product name- short, memorable, easy to pronounce, no negative associations. And Microsoft has shown it can do good product names: there is this thing called Windows. And X-Box, and Office, Word and Excel, and MSN. They came up with Expedia and Encarta (both better made up words than Enron or Xerox or Xe).

So, knock Microsoft for its naming and marketing when it is deserved. I know I do. But they aren't universally bad and are sometimes pretty good.