RE: AS/400 Server.

How does Power not zing? And IBM i? They both zing in my mind. But 'zing' is ultimately perspective. Maybe IBM i sounded weird at first to me, I don't recall, but now it's natural, and when it's natural, it zings - in the same way you must think Ivory Snow zings.

My only real issue with IBM trying to go for the 'i' thing was that it was (by the time I heard about it) too little too late - that was Apple's. But, loathe for me to say that a single company got sole rights to a letter in the alphabet.

I know I grumbled at the name change. I also agree that there should be a branding that exists across all versions (Windows.... NT, XP, 7, 98, 2003, etc). I think it'd be cool for IBM to use Power in that way - although not really apples to apples - the former being an O/S and the latter hardware. Maybe someday we'll get a Power 400. But seeing that we're only at Power 7 (with 8 underway), it'd be centuries away...

-Kurt

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Booth Martin
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 2:34 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: AS/400 Server.

Bingo. Names need zing from something. iPad, iPod, iMac, Stingray, Escalade, Dr Pepper, Snickers, Ivory Snow.

Who hear wouldn't want a Silverlake Watson? Or, a Watson Silverlake?

This not a difficult problem nor is it a heavy lift. IBM could fix this in 2 years, easily. Let i, p, and z go back to Sesame Street.



On 5/10/2013 2:22 PM, Paul Therrien wrote:

I think branding is the issue in the choice of a name like "IBM i". It just doesn't have the concreteness of a name such as AS/400 or System/38 or PDP11. "Watson" is better branding. "Silverlake" is good too. If forms an image in your head. There is something ambiguous and ephemeral about "IBM i on Power". It does not roll off the tongue or stick in one's memory. It doesn't create an image that one can focus on. I have used the terms 'Power 7' and 'IBM i' when talking with coworkers, both in IT and other departments. Neither term sticks with them. The term most often used and understood by the office staff is 'the 400'.

Paul