Europe doesn’t look like a good place for Microsoft. First there was the whole issue with calling their Windows 8 interface “Metro”. Now they are set to lose the Skydrive name. The High Court of England and Wales ruled that the cloud service infringed on the “Sky” trademark own by BSkyB in early July. Redmond has decided to not contest the issue and just get a new name.
Because Malaysians are the helpful type, I have decided to come up with some helpful ideas for what the new name should be.
Continues after the break
1. The Vault
Naming things after atmospheric objects is overdone, and there are plenty of other storage mediums to refer to. Vaults are part of our geek heritage. It appears in mostly our games and stories, so why not bring the appeal to the mass market. Hackers will also get a kick out of trying to break into The Vault.
2. Bing Drive
This would involve taking a play from Google’s book. It’s descriptive and easy to remember. Branding reasons aside, naming it the Bing Drive would also help to remind people that Bing exists.
3. Microsoft Cerebellum
I admit, this one was going to be Cortex; but ARM already makes Cortex processors. The cerebellum is close enough though. It’s also another part of the brain, and you sound almost as intelligent when saying the name.
4. Stash
Newer RPGs and MMOs have a place called the Stash to store additional loot, either for future use or to be shared with other characters. You know what else does that? Cloud storage. Bring the virtual world into real life.
5. C.L.O.U.D. (Collective Larder of Online Uploaded Data)
Acronyms are distinctly underused in the 21st century. It’s about time that Microsoft tried a retro approach to the future, and they can be sure that this one probably won’t infringe anyone else’s trademark. If it worked for K.I.T.T and S.H.I.E.L.D it can work for everyone.
