First "i"stuff. Then "e"stuff. And now "my"stuff. Facepalm

[MinisterofDOOM]

Gadget naming trends have never been very good. But the trend of slapping a letter on the front of things is particularly bad. The "e" and "i" naming schemes of the 2000s (and on) always seemed a bit stupid to me, particularly because they completely fail to distinguish one product from another. Every company ever has released an "i" something, and none of it is remotely related. It's just a stupid, supposedly catching naming scheme. Everything from cars Toyota took it to the ridiculous extreme by naming their mediocre DOHC V8 line "iForce"--something that makes me want to scream every time I see one of the huge rectangular chrome badges on an already flamboyantly overzealous Tundra. And then there's that idiotically-named iMIEV from Mitsubishi, which is simultaneously the most undeservingly arrogantly name AND the most ridiculously acronymed name in history.

But now we're seeing something even more stupid. "My"stuff. Mytouch phones and MyFordTouch interfaces and MyLink and MyThis and MyThat.
Here's the thing: "e" and "i" at least sort of fit. Electric or electronic or internet or other techy terms that start with those letters.
But "My"??? What the @#$% is the meaning there? "My" Link in contrast to WHAT?! YourNeighbor'sCat'sLink? OF COURSE IT'S @#$%ING MINE. Are the manufacturer's suggesting that we're too stupid to know something can be personalized without including it in the name?
Gee...what happens when I use MyLink to wirelessly connect my phone to the car.
WHAT?! IT LINKS MY PHONE?!?!?!? The one owned by ME?! NOT THAT GUY DOWN THE STREET!??!?!!?
GROUNDBREAKING!!!!!!!!!!!
Clearly whoever thought of this is a genius of unparallelled scope.

This is getting ridiculous, guys. It has reached the point where I would consider NOT buying a Chevy just because it comes with "MyLink." And I'd be hard-pressed to contain fits of giggling if a Ford salesman were to attempt to sell me on the virtues of MyFordTouch (yeah, you try it, buddy, and see if you get that hand back still attached to the arm).

Marketing people are idiots a lot of the time. They really can be amazingly clueless. But the way trends like this take off just astounds me. NOBODY ANYWHERE has stopped and thought "Hey, that sounds kind of stupid AND it's completely meaningless...maybe I shouldn't use it..."???? Everyone's just chomping at the bit to slap a bit of "My"action on the next gadget they release?

Why don't we try using names that actually mean something?
Why don't we try not having EVERY MANUFACTURER UNDER THE SUN using the same meaningless jargony drivel?
If "My"something is the best your marketing guys can come up with, they shouldn't be working for you anymore.

[WDRacing]

Love your rants Chris

[Dattebayo]

Hey man maybe you should go to the gym and work it off or something.

[Looneybomber]

I think Western Digital started it about 10yrs ago. My Book

[Jesda]

It was Microsoft with MyComputer and MyDocuments in Windows 95. I always thought that was an odd interface design choice, as if MS was screaming to users that "HEY, THIS IS YOURS! DID YOU KNOW THAT?"

I made sure to rename mine to "Computer" and "Documents". Later in Windows Vista they finally did away with most of that.

Perhaps the days of DOS and Windows 3.x were so cold and business-like that an overreaction seemed necessary. I don't know.

[frapjap]

I'm more bothered by the strong sense of selfishness that the 'i' and 'e' crap stirs up. Your "Ithis" and Ithat" is spot on, but other than the Wii, there aren't my products or services that promote community and unison; something most folks are preprogramed to have.

More to your point (and James and Jesda might have heard this while listening to the radio locally), there is a large furniture store chain here that has "free Cardi's mattress i-delivery." WTF IS AN i-DELIVERY?!?!?!?! I wont' buy anything from them again based on principal.

[JTR32gtst]

Well, it really is quite genius if you think about it. this society prides itself of ownership of things. When we are kids, we are known to grab it and say "MINE"! It adds a sort of possessive feeling and makes you feel good that it implies it is "yours". If you tell someone about something, you instantly refer to it as "my" whatever, so if you are speaking about a particular device, adding the word My"gadget name" adds a sort of pride of ownership.

Agreed, it sounds stupid, but the deeper thought is pride of ownership if I would guess.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Its all jedi mind tricks for the weak.

[Dattebayo]

Well, it really is quite genius if you think about it. this society prides itself of ownership of things. When we are kids, we are known to grab it and say "MINE"!

Actually, they teach kids to not be so possessive and crazy in most pre-schools and kindergarten classes since forever ago... If your parents went so far to not attempt to raise their kids by waiting until 1st grade to even introduce you to school, then you have a whole other bunch of problems.

[Jesda]

there is a large furniture store chain here that has "free Cardi's mattress i-delivery." WTF IS AN i-DELIVERY?!?!?!?! I

That sounds like a carryout pizza.

[Dattebayo]

Pizza mattress? Sounds like a new kind of Chicago style.

[Looneybomber]

It was Microsoft with MyComputer and MyDocuments in Windows 95.

Forgot all about that. Wow, I remember that transition from 3.1 to 95, and how AWESOME I thought that OS was. I feel old.

[WDRacing]

I feel old.

Yup...

[krash]

It was Microsoft with MyComputer and MyDocuments in Windows 95.

Forgot all about that. Wow, I remember that transition from 3.1 to 95, and how AWESOME I thought that OS was. I feel old.

I remember my dad beating my a** for using the install floppys as ninja stars.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Heh. I have a box full of old floppy disks (3.5'' AND 5.25'') and zip disks. I can also still use them. Both on my Windows 3.1-equipped Compaq LTE286 (great for some Ultima I action!) and my modern machine. I haven't got the five-and-a-quarter drive installed on the big rig right now, because most of those disks are fairly pointless (and actually, most are old Apple ][ games from when I had a few Apple IIe machines laying around). Spy versus Spy, baby!

Anachronism GO:

[frapjap]

You guys haven't lived until you've survived the Oregon Trail leaving in winter.

[Bokeh]

Its all jedi mind tricks for the weak.

Basically anything with an "i","e", or "my" stupidly tacked onto it, "This isn't the product you're looking for."

[addicted4life]

That rant was awesome hahah