Am I the only one who is starting to find this sort of company names confusing? I guessed meteor was probably meteor.js (though didn't know there was an associated comapny), but had to think pretty hard about it first. It was clearer when calling things "foo.com" or some such was in fashion, but not now. Even "Meteor, Inc." would have made it clearer, but then you have to check which legal structure a company has. There's also the question of whether such common words in such widespread use for so long can be reasonably trade-marked.
Another issue is odd spelling. Not here, but many valley companies will name themselves, say, "suni" (pronounced "sunny") because that domain name is available. Problem is, if I hear that in conversation, I will google "sunny".
The best example, of course, is the we company. Significant grammatical nail-biting ensued when I saw repeated instances of "we is". I wonder, did Adam Neumann consider that such a name change would lead to articles concerning his company sounding like gollum wrote them? Joking aside, I hope people who name such things start considering how the name will sound, write, and be perceived by most people who read it.
By “this sort of company names” do you mean using common nouns with little to no relation to the company’s line of business? If so, that’s not exactly new: Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Intel, Oracle, etc.
The difference here is just that Meteor isn’t as popular as the above. But the above weren’t popular at their origins either (with the exception of Alphabet, perhaps).
Seems like the real issue here is that Meteor does not have instant brand name recognition... which isn’t really an issue.
Weren't Apple and Amazon usually referred to as "Apple Computers" and "Amazon.com" at some point? Also, Alphabet is definitely "new", and someone else already pointed out the origin of "Intel"
EDIT: Wikipedia confirms Apple originally being in corporated as Apple Computer, Inc. and Amazon as Amazon.com, Inc.
Since it's sparked some conversation, I have a foggy recollection of reading somewhere that Paul Graham originally recommended that Meteor be called "Octograph" or something along that line.
Maybe one of the founders can chime in on this bit of trivia. Congrats to the whole team!
Another issue is odd spelling. Not here, but many valley companies will name themselves, say, "suni" (pronounced "sunny") because that domain name is available. Problem is, if I hear that in conversation, I will google "sunny".
The best example, of course, is the we company. Significant grammatical nail-biting ensued when I saw repeated instances of "we is". I wonder, did Adam Neumann consider that such a name change would lead to articles concerning his company sounding like gollum wrote them? Joking aside, I hope people who name such things start considering how the name will sound, write, and be perceived by most people who read it.