[The Bard]

I accept it because it is a good analogy that makes sense. Conceptualizing an operating system that is based off of web technologies and the benefits of that is more difficult to wrap your fingers around in 5 or so seconds.

Once again the question falls to who are they marketing the operating system to the public or the dev.

webOS = devspeak

Cards = Public imho

Ps. Not complaining i just ditched the Evo to come back after a short 2 weeks. Just commenting.

Public care only the gadget.. the OS is what devs care. So if you talk about marketing then you should change this thread to Pre=bad name. Then I will accept. Because Palm Pre isn't a good name imo.

If I'm a HP marketing crew. I will use 'true-multitask' as my main weapon to attract customers not just use WebOS word. I will give you a simple example. Just do this on you Pre vs your EVO. Type an sms/email contain some calculation that need a calculator help. How you do this on Pre with WebOS? just open sms / email app then open calculator. Whenever you need to calculate something you just can full swipe back on forth on meta-tab. You can back and forth app by only a second. Just try this on EVO with android. You need to press home button for more then a sec, and then press again to back and forth between sms/email to calculator.

I already show this to several friends that think iPhone is the best. They just realize that WebOS is something better in multitask. Even WebOS not 100% great but the multitask is the best.

So to do marketing isn't just about a name, it is about what OS can bring to users. That's what public care.

[Titan078]

And this means what to the average smartphone buyer? Nothing.

Makes me sad to agree with you

[Titan078]

Public care only the gadget.. the OS is what devs care. So if you talk about marketing then you should change this thread to Pre=bad name. Then I will accept. Because Palm Pre isn't a good name imo.

If I'm a HP marketing crew. I will use 'true-multitask' as my main weapon to attract customers. I will give you a simple example. Just do this on you Pre vs your EVO. Type an sms/email contain some calculation that need a calculator help. How you do this on Pre with WebOS? just open sms / email app then open calculator. Whenever you need to calculate something you just can full swipe back on forth on meta-tab. You can back and forth app by only a second. Just try this on EVO with android. You need to press home button for more then a sec, and then press again to back and forth between sms/email to calculator.

I already show this to several friend that thing iPhone is the best. They just realize that WebOS is something better in multitask. Even WebOS not 100% great but the multitask is the best.

I already bashed the Pre (beta) name but we just disagree. The Evo is a great phone but i do not like Android. The Pre is a sucktastic phone(jk) but i love webOS. webOS is what people need to find and love. Phones will come and go but hopefully webOS will be with us for a long time.

[The Bard]

I already bashed the Pre (beta) name but we just disagree. The Evo is a great phone but i do not like Android. The Pre is a sucktastic phone(jk) but i love webOS. webOS is what people need to find and love. Phones will come and go but hopefully webOS will be with us for a long time.

Agreed.. I still hoping that WebOS can live longer. I can't find any better phone with such multitask.

That's why I wait for CES this 6-9 January. Hope HP bring all their new WebOS gadget to public.

If talking about why lots of people still don't know about WebOS is because Pre & Pixi not sell worldwide. If Palm do this 1 year ago, then Palm fate will be different. Because China is the biggest linux user and they surely love WebOS over other OS.

[patricksmangan]

If nothing else, I think it would just be good to put "with cards" Into ads and commercials.

"blah blah blah your life will be awesome. Introducing the palm pad from hp, with cards."

Maybe to common people, os specific name can just go away, and the brand is "with cards"

Come to think of it, has "webos" ever been mentioned in ads? If not, they need something to tie their line of products together.

[hparsons]

I accept it because it is a good analogy that makes sense...

I guess one of the reasons I disagree with your conclusion is that I fundamentally disagree with your premise.

I don't see "Windows" as a good analogy that sense - at least in its current implementation. I can see why you might feel that way, but I really believe it's a perception issue. Bear with me:

When Windows was introduced by Microsoft, the presentation of the "windows" were tiled. You opened a window, and it filled the screen. You opened another window, and the two lined up side by side. In this configuration, the presentation looked like a set of windows.

Today's presentation does not. The only reason calling the OS "Windows" makes sense to us is that we're so used to calling those boxes "Windows".

One might argue thoug that we're used to calling them that because it's made so much sense in the beginning. The problem with that argument is that the original Windows (that didn't overlap) was never very popular. Even is successor, Windows 2 wasn't. It really wasn't until Windows 3 came along, providing better multi-tasking, better device drivers, and better memory management, that the platform took off.

I was around during all of this, and owned a computer shop. I remember the discussions among customers about "why is it called Windows" very well.

An interesting side note to all of this. Folks are so screaming around here about the "coming months" announcements from HP. Windows was announced almost 3 years before it was released. There were even persistent rumors that the product didn't really exist. Folks sincerely believed the dominant (at the time) graphic OS would continue to dominate until MS went out of business.

I believe that "dominant" GUI system now enjoys about 5% of the desktop space (Apple), and MS about 90%.

[hparsons]

And this means what to the average smartphone buyer? Nothing.

I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree about that one. I believe that HP can easily leverage the notion of a phone designed for the internt (web technologies, cloud computing, streaming, etc) to end users, and they would understand the concept.

Show Pandora. Show YouTube. Show Synergy. "Palm - the system built for the Web".

[Cantaffordit]

IMHO, the term "cards" isn't something people identify with or know about. Unless HP wanted to to zillions of dollars in ads to develop an awareness of the value of cards, it would mean nothing. Especially as android and others start to add similar UI features.

I suggest that HP try to associate Palm (recognizable name) with the term "superphone", Yes, google is trying to coin that, but so far it's only sticking within a small circle of technoids. HP should try to dominate that name. Even if Google is successful in winning the association mindshare, Palm would then appear to be an android phone with a cardview UI. (A part of me wishes they did that anyway just to get to the android market...)

Palm coined and defended the term "Palm" when that indicated unusually small size and big function. Microsoft tried to do the same with "Pocket" but never got much traction until it became "Windows Mobile"

But "palm size" is not a huge differentiator in this day of tiny little devices. But if Palm could connect themselves with "superphone = Palm", or "Computer in your palm", etc. I think there are other terms you guys can probably think of, but I think trying to grab "superphone" is the best I've come up with. Maybe Palm = Cloud?

Apple has done this beautifully with "i"

iPhone = Internet + Phone

And then there is EVO = Evolution of wireless (4G)

I just don't think that "cards" would even make sense to anyone other than current users. Just as "faster, better, and tons of fun" or "busy moms" or "mobile innovator" or whatever HP was tossing around recently...

The success of the Mac commercials - "I am a Mac" created a sense of cool, community, uniqueness, etc. Even though I hate it, Microsoft is on the right track with "to the cloud"... because their commercials show actual features that people understand, and associate them with "the cloud" even though Windows might not be able to do what is in the commercial, or that "cloud" is essentially just a new name for "intranet" or "internet" etc etc.

they need a term (like superphone) that hits the cool, unique, must have button, and wrap it in a slogan that is just a few words that communicate what it will do for a person. IMHO.

Anyone thinking of terms more like "superphone" and less like "cards"?

[JohnDoes]

I would call it "CmingMonths"

[patricksmangan]

the commercials, when there were webos commercials, all ready showed a user multitasking with cards. they called it multitasking, and i think people were like "erm, ok." if they just instead said "with cards," people watching it in action would get it right away. ios comercials show apps. webos showed using multiple apps if needed to get thing(s) done, faster. i think people would get the sense of multitasking, faster, with lots of fun, that they dont get from actually using those words, and instead using cards. everyone can relate.



edit
and by relate, i mean because everyone has played with a deck of playing cards, if not magic or munchkin, cards from a board game, or collectibles: nerds and sports fans.

[sketch42]

Anyone here (professional geeks are not allowed to participate) know the history of the name Linux?

Please folks, the name doesn't have to make sense, it doesn't have to be discriptive of what the system does, it really doesn't even have to be easy to prounce properly. It simply has to be the name of a good solid OS that has a compelling reason for people to buy/use it.

Unix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Cantaffordit]

Linus Torvold?

[Skippy07]

I think WebOS makes perfect sense to name the OS.

A consumer doesn't give a crap what the OS is called. They will know it as the Pre, Pixi, iPhone, Evo, Droid, etc.

Now, who will know the name of the OS of the phones........the developers. WebOS will make perfect sense to the developers.

Keep the name WebOS.

-Skippy

[ieko]

wow, we've been without a new Palm Phone for so long that we're recycling debates now.. Lol

Look, you know why WebOS is hard to describe to the public? It's because Palm is out of the news cycle, so no one recognizes it. When they actually begin to deliver products (and hopefully buzz/hype), only then will WebOS become easy to understand.

[ZombieElvis]

"Synergy" would be a better name than "cards" in my opinion. I however still like the name webOS.

Every time I hear the word "Synergy" I think of annoying corporate buzzwards that stupid people use to sound smart. It definitely doesn't have good connotations for me. I think that webOS is a decent enough name. It connotes the World Wide Web and web technologies and face it, most people don't care what operating system their phone runs. The ones who do will usually be the same people who will understand what webOS means.

[rmausser]

The general public does not even know the difference between hardware and software.

All they know, is that it is a phone, and it lets them do things.

They do not understand that there is a hardware layer and a software layer in engineering.

webOS doesnt even need to exist as something that the user understands or even knows, ESPECIALLY with a virtically integrated model like what HP/Palm is doing with webOS.

All the end user cares is that "its an HP Palm smartphone and it has sexy hardware, looks good as an accessory, and lets me make calls, do my email, facebook and some other apps here and there all at once with these cool card thingies"

This is why people call Android a "Droid phone", not "hey have you seen that Android OS that comes on different carriers and is made by different companies?"

The majority of people dont even know that Android is made by Google, and they dont care.

All they care is that they are getting a nice smartphone that has the mail services they use and the popular apps.

So as far as HP/Palm selling webOS to the mass market, the general public doesnt care to know what webOS is. They only see a phone.

[Lonestarsharker]

Every time I hear the word "Synergy" I think of annoying corporate buzzwards that stupid people use to sound smart. It definitely doesn't have good connotations for me. I think that webOS is a decent enough name. It connotes the World Wide Web and web technologies and face it, most people don't care what operating system their phone runs. The ones who do will usually be the same people who will understand what webOS means.

I agree with you. webOS was built around web technology, which is why i prefer the name webOS. The name "cards" for an OS (no disrespect to the "cards" proponents) just seems silly to me. "synergy" seemed like a decent name to me because it is one of the things that only palm was doing (at launch anyway). Many people forget about synergy, and my theory is that its because its one of webOS' features that you never really see, it just happens in the background. Granted, pretty much all the other operating systems do synergy in one way or another now, but it was pretty neat to me when my contacts would auto update if they were changed, be it facebook, exchange, etc. HP and palm has made it obvious they want to do big things with the "cloud", and synergy is pretty involved in that. All that being said typed, i still prefer webOS.

how does "iDifferent" sound? lol.

[Titan078]

Just gonna have to disagree with you. Sexy hardware will win a lot of battles but once people pledge and allegiance its hard to break them of it etc. windows and apple fan boys. I like the operating system, but whoever was involved with the naming process/marketing at Palm was hopefully fired and replaced. Ares and Enyo are the best names that they have and they were not intentional. Maybe they should let the code monkeys Make all the decisions! Slightly jk

[ZombieElvis]

Originally Posted by hparsons
WebOS; however, is very descriptive, even in short form. It's an OS designed around web technologies.

And this means what to the average smartphone buyer? Nothing.

Well, I assume that the average smartphone buyer spends a lot of time on the Internet and uses a web browser even if they don't necessarily spend a lot of time thinking the technologies upon which it is built. If this is the case, they will tend to see a device built around the same technologies that power their web browsers as a good thing.

Honestly what does Android mean to this same smartphone user? Nothing beyond the barrage of ads that Verizon has lavished upon their Droid phones. Yet another example of how meaningless this discussion over names.

For that matter what does iOS mean to the average smartphone buyer? Again, nothing. The iPhone's OS didn't even have a name at all until recently, yet somehow Apple has managed to see crap load of iPhones.

[ZombieElvis]

If nothing else, I think it would just be good to put "with cards" Into ads and commercials.

"blah blah blah your life will be awesome. Introducing the palm pad from hp, with cards."

Maybe to common people, os specific name can just go away, and the brand is "with cards"

Come to think of it, has "webos" ever been mentioned in ads? If not, they need something to tie their line of products together.

I'm not sure I see a whole lot of charm in the word "Cards" myself. I tend to associate Cards with with gambling and risk. While that might make for exciting episodic television, I'm not sure if that makes for good cell phone advertising. "What does the future hold for you? It's all in the Cards!"