Ouch, flamed. Must attempt to sound groovier when being constructive.
I did read the whole thread(s), but I also read about 5 billion other things.
These comments are great:
>I've changed my mind since this discussion began. At first (or somewhere in there), I thought
> that Firebird was a logical replacement for Phoenix. Then I realized that both of those names > - and many others that have been suggested - are (or seem) linked to the past in some way.
> Perhaps this browser should have a more enduring, more "modern"-sounding name. The only
> ones in nrm's "short list" that fit, in my opinion, are Echo and Equinox. These sound like names
> that could stand the test of time. I don't think you could sell a young generation of web-surfers
> on a browser called "Magpie." No offense intended but think about it. Mariner and Athena have
>an "Old World" flavor to them. This is 2002. Any thoughts?
Phoenix-renamed is a late-entrant to the browser market. The major browser offerings
are therefore conservative. Phoenix needs to have a non-conservative image to start
with. I agree with the remarks about getting away from an "Olde Worlde" kind of name
for that reason. Traditional names are so ho-hum.
I don't know about "younger generation" browser-adopters. I think extremely young
adults spend a lot of time trying to find a radical and new position in society, so trying
to predict their tastes is tricky. I guess they're an immediate goal, but the majority of
the market is probably 20-35s, although I have no facts to point to. They're the
"technology boomers" if you like. I guess the very young are more likely to adopt
new technology, so that makes them role models for others to follow. Phoenix
isn't new technology, though. It's a web browser. Very young people are likely
to leap straight past web browsers to something radically newer, as they did with
ICQ and Napster. Perhaps Chandler, or whatever.
Liking Phoenix technology isn't a revolution, its like picking a football team.
There's no point making a name that suits the current supporters of the
team - they're already persuaded, whether young or old. It's people who don't
care yet that need to be persuaded.
Echo sounds modern. Equinox too, but I am still worried it means nothing to people.
I'm an amateur astronomer, and it means "halfway" or "equal" to me.
Magpie still seems good to me. Those birds are fierce and I love being a pest anyway
The word Phoenix isn't conservative or established, why lose that positive swing with
an old-fashioned replacement.
Another way to proceed is to identify everything unpleasant about Microsoft Outlook
and pick a name that says the opposite. I hereby propose a thread: "What's Bad about Outlook" that can be used to inspire a new phoenix name.
- Nigel.
Nigel McFarlane - Analysis, Programming, Writing.