I just thought of a fandamntastic idea for a company name. It actually came from reading a paper and misreading a name, which surprised me, as it would be an odd name if my misreading were correct.
Ready for it? Abysmal. How awesome would it be to run a company called Abysmal? :cool: Abysmal Technologies. Abysmal Investment. Abysmal Insurance. And just Abysmal for short, in conversation, stock listings and so on.
It's a total winner. Names like Microsoft, Sun, Oracle, Google would never stack up against Abysmal. There have been suggestive company names in the form of adjectives in the past, like Smart, Rational and Ahead, but Abysmal totally blows that away.
Contrast Abysmal with product names like Oracle's upcoming Unbreakable Linux. Geez, how idiotic is that name? Not only is it going to set off a stream of bad puns, it also directly undermines the perceived quality of the product. You wouldn't buy a car from Honest Pete just because he calls himself Honest, in fact that would make you suspicious and make you steer clear of Pete. In contrast, Abysmal Linux would set off that "hey, wait a minute" reaction.
It would also open up a whole new platform for silly ads and slogans, like "The worst thing you can say about us is the name" and "Are your profits abysmal? We understand like no other".
There is actually a strong precedent for self deprecating names in internet culture. Lots of sites have enjoyed great success with names like Deviantart.
Man, that's the best idea I've had all year, by far! (That is, in 2006, although publication was deferred to let the new year embrace the ingenious idea.)
That's actually a great idea, I'm impressed :D