What’s A Hulu? The Origins Of High-Tech Names
Can you imagine if, instead of “TiVo-ing” the latest episode of Lost, you were “Bongo-ing” it? “Bongo” and “Lasso” are just two of the 800 possible names the marketing folks kicked around before settling on TiVo. The final name was cobbled together from “TV” and the engineering acronym “I/O,” which stands for “input/output.” Little did they know their noun would become a verb and their oddly-named invention would forever change the way people watch television.
Would President Obama have fought so hard to keep his “LeapFrog” phone? Because the phone was leaps and bounds over everything else on the market, this was one of the names considered for the BlackBerry. Another possibility was “Strawberry,” because the tiny keys resembled seeds. But when someone felt the word “straw” sounded too slow, another berry was suggested as a placeholder until something more official was developed. Over time, the temporary berry became so synonymous with the new device, it was adopted by default.
Hulu means many things to many people. To some, it’s a great online resource for watching their favorite TV shows and movies. But to a native Hawaiian, it means “hair.” To someone who speaks Swahili, it means “cease.” To an Indonesian, it means “butt.” While these translations are accurate, the folks behind naming hulu.com were inspired by a couple of Mandarin Chinese definitions instead – “interactive recording” and “a hollowed-out gourd used to hold precious things.” Despite this often misunderstood word, the website is rapidly becoming one of the biggest names in streaming video. Well, except in Indonesia…Photo by Tivo/Blackberry/Hulu.
Jaclyn on March 6th, 2009 12:52 pm
You know that makes so much sense…the companies going through many different names before settling on one that truly fit’s the product. it can’t be a very quick or easy process of coming up with a name for something. i’ve always often wondered how certain products or services got their names, just like driving by roads and wondering who came up with such a name and how.
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