What’s in a name?

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Abbreviations are great, aren’t they? BBC, DVD, HSBC, DVLA, GCSE. Why use normal words when you can take almost as long to recite them as letters instead?

Of course, some conveniently shorten into a series of letters that can actually be said as a single, new word. Think acronyms like NASA, SCUBA, laser. Think VAIO.

Today I read of Sony’s redefinition of the famous VAIO brand, and it occurred to me that I had absolutely no idea what it had stood for since its creation.

Very Attractive If Overpriced, perhaps? (more…)

Grass is Greener at VMWare

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Looks like VMWare has lost it’s den mother: CEO Diane Greene has been replaced by Paul Maritz. Having seen Ms. Greene in action on two occasions, I will be fascinated to see how Maritz copes with that role – VMWare’s somewhat scattered product portfolio and happy go lucky acquisition model always seemed to represent a collection of cats resolutely refusing to make up a herd. Seems like the shareholders – companies not famous for their touchy-feely, den-motherish management style, like Cisco and EMC – reacted with that classic American short-term peevishness when revenues dropped, and Someone Had To Go.

The question in my mind is; was VMWare surfing a wave during the pre-recession years, or actually driving it? Will the uber-boffins who delivered the goods, keep doing so without their Den Mother?