CES 2012: Poke Your i's Out

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I hadn't been on the convention floor at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show for an hour before I encountered these three examples of the most tired naming strategy of our time: the infamous lowercase i.

 

 

 

By the end of the day, I could have collected at least half a dozen more, but I didn't want to belabor the point. You get the idea.

Please, people. You're better than this. The iPrefix was worn out years ago. Even if it wasn't Apple's common-law wife at this point, it just rings corny nowadays. Nothing sounds more dated than something that's trying too hard to sound cutting-edge.

It's time to kick away that crutch and walk on your own name. OK, OK, my metaphor's stumbling but the truth keeps marching on: small-i names are for small thinkers.

Of course, it's possible that the iThing is so old now, it's retro. Maybe the people behind these companies are sneering at me for not getting it. If so, carry on baffling and irritating old guys like me. Such is the way of the world.

But if not, if you think a lowercase-i name is still the very model of a modern cyber-moniker, take a word of well-intentioned advice: that "i" is making you look kind of goofy. Consider another angle for the name of your product or company.

And no, it shouldn't involve "cyber", either.

Cast your i's over our CES 2012 coverage all week on the Woot blog. Or heyâ?¦ maybe we could call it the Woot iBlog. Just an idea.

 



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