Comments on: Catchword Details Palm Pre Naming Origins

Palm Pre BrandingCatchword, a corporate branding agency, has posted a new case study on how it came up with the name and branding ideas behind Palm Pre. The post details how Palm contracted with the firm to "reclaim their brand luster" and goes into some of the background information on the significance of the Pre name and how it came about.

The creative exploration was mammoth. Yet after developing many thousands of names (and screening hundreds for legal snags and global suitability) the answer was almost elemental in its simplicity.

The Palm Prē. Refreshingly direct, unlike many of its hipper-than-thou competitors that take themselves way too seriously. The name Prē also subtly conveys the device's ability to predict its user's movements. And we like the fluid alliteration and upscale tonality (reminiscent of Grand Prix). An added bonus: the Prē links naturally to its sibling, the Trēo, both aurally and visually (with the long bar over the "e").

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heh

medevilenemy @ 4/8/2009 5:15:53 PM # Q
Or maybe they were like "hey, lets come up with a random name nobody will get, and come up with a bunch of really clever sounding explanations for why we chose it... just imagine the looks on their faces".
RE: heh
jca666us @ 4/8/2009 5:48:18 PM # Q
lmfao - these guys are really good bs artists.

Pre evokes many words:

predicament
premature
premenstrual
preening
predictable
.
.
.
preposterous

RE: heh
SeldomVisitor @ 4/8/2009 5:54:07 PM # Q
And they got paid lots of bucks, too!

Wheeee!

Er...I mean...Preeeeee!

RE: heh
medevilenemy @ 4/8/2009 8:56:23 PM # Q
I like that... preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
RE: heh
MythicFox @ 4/8/2009 9:25:59 PM # Q
"Or maybe they were like "hey, lets come up with a random name nobody will get, and come up with a bunch of really clever sounding explanations for why we chose it... just imagine the looks on their faces"."

Hey, it worked for the Nintendo Wii, didn't it?
Palm Vx > m505 > T5

RE: heh
medevilenemy @ 4/8/2009 10:04:55 PM # Q
It did indeed. I decided a long time ago to stick with palm for the long haul, and this looks like it could be the beginning of a resurrection of sorts. I'm not giving up on them yet.
RE: heh
jca666us @ 4/9/2009 3:45:00 AM # Q
>I like that... preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

That's the squealing sound you'll be making after Palm's latest device gives you the shaft.

RE: heh
hkklife @ 4/9/2009 8:29:13 AM # Q
Preeeeeeeeeeee: Palm's own "Deliverance"-style reward for early Pre/WebOS adopters

I personally always liked the sound of "Veld" that Palm trademarked a while back. I have always thougth that would have made for a nifty future Palm product/product line name.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

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wft

happyPalm @ 4/9/2009 8:17:47 AM # Q
like wtf? what does it mean? Atleast the Treo means something.

Pre could be just Previous and history if it doesnt make it out before xmas. hehe

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who cares whats the name?

zuhmir @ 4/9/2009 8:20:24 AM # Q
Call it Palm Zimbagulu for all I care...
RE: who cares whats the name?
SeldomVisitor @ 4/9/2009 9:05:00 AM # Q
Done!

RE: who cares whats the name?
zuhmir @ 4/9/2009 4:31:11 PM # Q
Good! you could even abbreviate it to Palm Zim and make it more pretentious by putting a horizontal bar over the "m".
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Never realized so many marketing pros were on PIC!

jeffhoward001 @ 4/9/2009 9:09:13 AM # Q
Wow, I never realized how many marketing experts posts regularly on PIC! And I thought most posters on this forum were sarcastic IT nerds taking advantage of the internet's autonomy to be obnoxious without repercussion...

Who would have known you were all marketing pros just waiting for your opportunity to be sarcastic about something completely outside of IT!

You guys never cease to amaze me. Keep the incredibly informed posts coming all you IT-expert-mobile-technology-guru-usability-expert-marketing-pros!!!

Disclaimer: I have zero professional experience marketing, or mobile technology. I'm an IT Operations manager, but unfortunately there aren't many posts on here regarding that type of work... Guess that's why I don't post very often...
Tungsten T -> Palm TX -> TX & Centro (Good combo so far!)

RE: Never realized so many marketing pros were on PIC!
SeldomVisitor @ 4/9/2009 10:18:03 AM # Q
Nah, you don't post here much because you haven't got a clue.

Please note that all the posts under this article til this point in time are about Palm/Marketing Company/Pre Naming except for yours - your post, OTOH, is about other posters.

DUHmb, huh?

RE: Never realized so many marketing pros were on PIC!
jeffhoward001 @ 4/9/2009 12:07:57 PM # Q
You're right, I posted off-topic... I will confess that I have a problem with forums full of people who seem to sit at their computer waiting for an opportunity to to post some clever sarcastic response instead of adding value to the conversation. Of which I'm completely guilty of on this post! My only saving grace is that I rarely do this...(and rarely post in general, unless I feel like I can add some value to the conversation)

But of course you're the captain of that ship on this forum, so my comments will fall on deaf ears.

I'll go back to not posting, and assume that you choose to spend so much time posting negatively on this forum because the rest of your life is so wonderful (as opposed to you working in a call-center with tons of time on your hands which you split between posting on this forum, and salivating over your next can of Mt Dew...)

Apologies for being "that guy" for a few posts, I diligently pass the baton back to you...
Tungsten T -> Palm TX -> TX & Centro (Good combo so far!)

RE: Never realized so many marketing pros were on PIC!
jeffhoward001 @ 4/9/2009 12:20:57 PM # Q
Sorry, I just have to do one more post... How wonderful would the internet be if this was real...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjWFZPJZTxU
Tungsten T -> Palm TX -> TX & Centro (Good combo so far!)

RE: Never realized so many marketing pros were on PIC!
twrock @ 4/10/2009 7:21:02 AM # Q
SeldomVisitor wrote:
Nah, you don't post here much because you haven't got a clue.

Please note that all the posts under this article til this point in time are about Palm/Marketing Company/Pre Naming except for yours - your post, OTOH, is about other posters.

DUHmb, huh?


Wow, sounds like a "personal attack" to me. That's not a very nice way to treat Jeff, SV. Is it ok if he uses that as an excuse to get all bent out of shape?

jeffhoward001 wrote:
I will confess that I have a problem with forums full of people who seem to sit at their computer waiting for an opportunity to to post some clever sarcastic response instead of adding value to the conversation. Of which I'm completely guilty of on this post! My only saving grace is that I rarely do this...

Ok, you got me there. Yep, I just did it too. Although I will attempt to defend myself slightly by saying I don't actually "sit at my computer waiting for an opportunity." I just log in when I have a moment and the opportunities present themselves without my even having to go looking for them! But on the other hand, I can't claim your "saving grace"; it's not so rare for me.... ;-)

Any way, funny clip, and good point with the original post. And seriously, who decided it was "off topic" or whether anyone should care? (Like there are some kind of "playground rules" around here? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight....)

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

Reply to this comment

Meaningful or not, the name sucks

Scott R @ 4/9/2009 9:34:09 AM # Q
It's interesting to hear the logic and process behind the name, but I think most everyone has agreed that the name sucks. A couple of other observations/comments:

1) If the quote in this article was written by them, it's interesting that they capitalized the "p" in Pre but Palm does not.
2) They claim that the long "e" is consistent with the Treo, yet Palm (or Handspring) previously claimed that the word Treo was pronounced "Tray-o", so that same long-e in "pre" should be pronounced "pray", no? But they claim that it evokes the idea of the grand prix. In fact, this is probably a great example of the people not really understanding/appreciating the history of Palm (or the Treo) to bother even researching these simple things.

Again, though, none of that particularly concerns me. The name sucks so bad that they should rename it. But ultimately the device will either succeed or fail in spite of that.
http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
Tere @ 4/9/2009 10:13:31 AM # Q
I see Pre and think predecessor. Predecessor to what? The name makes want to wait and see what's coming next. I think they should have done more focus groups.

And not matter what they say Treo = "TREE-oo." I think they long ago abandon trying to enforce the "TRAY-oo" pronunciation.
- Tere

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
SeldomVisitor @ 4/9/2009 10:14:21 AM # Q
> ...yet Palm (or Handspring) previously claimed that the word Treo was
> pronounced "Tray-o"...

That for sure is not true - the only person I've seriously heard call a Treo "tray-o" was the braindead Krakow from TheStreet.com.

There's a '-' over the 'e' in Treo ala Trēo - everyone ELSE in the world understands what that means with vowels.

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
SeldomVisitor @ 4/9/2009 10:23:57 AM # Q
RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
Scott R @ 4/9/2009 12:39:38 PM # Q
Well, I don't know where I got the "tray-o" pronunciation from. I've owned several Treo's since my first Treo 300. I've always pronounced it as "tree-o" because "tray-o" didn't sound right to me, but I could have sworn that I had read somewhere long ago that Hawkins (or someone at Handspring) claimed that it should be pronounced "tray-o". I just did some Googling and I couldn't find any evidence of that. So just go ahead and ignore my entire original post here please.
http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -
RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
Tere @ 4/9/2009 1:51:53 PM # Q
OTOH, "Pray" may be an appropriate name. Maybe the next model will be call "Wing."
- Tere
RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
2klbs @ 4/9/2009 3:32:11 PM # Q
SeldomVisitor wrote:
> ...yet Palm (or Handspring) previously claimed that the word Treo was
> pronounced "Tray-o"...

That for sure is not true - the only person I've seriously heard call a Treo "tray-o" was the braindead Krakow from TheStreet.com.

There's a '-' over the 'e' in Treo ala Trēo - everyone ELSE in the world understands what that means with vowels.

Add Joshua Lindsey, writer at Palm Addicts:

http://palmaddict.typepad.com/palmaddicts/2008/04/treo-pronunciat.html
End of Contract with Sprint- to become a "Pre-vert" or go Android?

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
Tuckermaclain @ 4/9/2009 4:47:06 PM # Q
They should have put a few umlauts in over a few consonants-like Spinal Tap did. At least then we would know it was SUPPOSED to sound 'tarded.
RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
craigdts @ 4/9/2009 6:11:16 PM # M Q
yeah henge there was a guy at 1src that insisted it was trayo because he thought it sounded better, funny
RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
gmayhak @ 4/9/2009 7:59:49 PM # Q
If Treo was meant to be pronounced Trayo, wouldn't that make this latest contraption "Prey" (that it'll save their ass)?
Whatever, they are going to be hard pressed to catch up to Apple.
I'm a hardware guy but I wrote several Palm apps over the years (available on Palmgear) and maybe pulled in a couple hundred bucks total. In december '08 I bought a Mac mini and the iPhone developer sdk (my last Apple computer was the 2E so it's been a while), now I'm near 3,000 apps sold and I'm just starting to learn the OS!
They have some rules but a "power user" can pay the 100 bucks and write any code they want to run on their own device without worrying about any restrictions that Apple places on Apps you sell on iTunes.
Bottom line, to me the Palm use to be a tiny Personal Computer you could customize to your liking and now it's become a pre programmed cloud phone. My new tiny Personal Computer is the iPod Touch and I'm loving it :-)
Search iTunes for Tech Center Labs to see what a beginner can do with the sdk. Don't buy any of my apps, if you see something you like I can send you a free download code (email gmayhak@aol.com).
It's been a fun ride since the Palm Pilot days and I still check pic every morning to see what's new but as Roland would say, "the world's moved on."

Gary
Tech Center Labs

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
jca666us @ 4/9/2009 9:17:47 PM # Q
While Apple may be their target, Palm's (final?) challenge is to both "out apple" Apple and "out rim" Rim.

Problem is:

1. Apple can under price Palm with their current line and still be competitive on features, while the new iphone will easily outsell the Pre (and have a few features to leave the Pre lacking).

2. Rim is what Palm used to be to businesses 7 - 8 years ago. Pre would have to have something to seriously challenge Rim.

iphone has the "fun" factor while the Blackberry's have the "it has a real keyboard" crowd.

I hope the Pre is successful, but will the Pre's multitasking web apps be a compelling alternative?

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
twrock @ 4/10/2009 6:13:19 AM # Q
gmayhak wrote:
Bottom line, to me the Palm use to be a tiny Personal Computer you could customize to your liking and now it's become a pre programmed cloud phone. My new tiny Personal Computer is the iPod Touch and I'm loving it :-)
Search iTunes for Tech Center Labs to see what a beginner can do with the sdk. Don't buy any of my apps, if you see something you like I can send you a free download code (email gmayhak@aol.com).

Ok, you've got my attention, Gary. Yes, this is exactly the way I have always looked at my "Palm" devices. And yours is an opinion that carries some weight with me, so I'm very interested in hearing about your experience with the iPod Touch.

One of my biggest concerns with webOS is exactly that: "it's become a pre programmed cloud phone." As others have put it, the new company behind the Pre is "Palm" only in name. Everything else has changed. Those of us with a long history with Palm are going to have to decide whether or not we want to go along with this new company's vision for the future, or find some other bandwagon to jump on. So I'm very interested in your perspective on the iPod Touch and whether or not it really fits the bill when it comes to being a "tiny PC" and whether or not it will satisfy those of us who really like devices like the Palm TX and other such devices.

So what's not to like about the iPod Touch from the perspective of a TX user?

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
gmayhak @ 4/10/2009 12:32:15 PM # Q
I have the first generation Touch, it doesn't have a built in speaker so if I need to catch an alarm I have to wear the earbuds. It's not enough of a bother to make me want to upgrade because I personally like the minimal design (only 2 moving parts to wear out & a flat back). The polished stainless back would probably get scuffed easily but I put on a vinyl carbon fiber pattern skin to protect it.
The main things that sold me on the Touch are screen and the OS. I've always been disappointed with Palm displays being flexible with distorted reflections, I hate all the distorted reflections coming off of the entire pre!
The Touch display is a piece of work that belongs in a museum next to the movado watch.
The OS is a little Mac, I'd been away from Apple computers for years but that was a mistake, my Mac Mini runs circles around a Vista machine.
If you do any programming, the sdk has a ton of samples and it doesn't take long to get a feel for the OS.
The Touch brought back that neat feeling I had when I first discovered the Palm Pilot :-)
The app store has lots of junk apps (like mine;) but there are also some great ones, I'm an old HP calculator fan and there are several to choose from, I like this one...
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=289068865&mt=8

Here's my conspericy theory, Apple has the bucks and what if the ex apple guys pointing the way for palm aren't really so ex? That's the only reason I can think of for palm to throw away everything and everyone from the past and head for the clouds :-/

Gary
TCL

Tech Center Labs

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
twrock @ 4/10/2009 6:26:44 PM # Q
Thanks for the reply Gary.

Without a speaker for alarms, the Touch was of no interest to me at all, so I am pleased that they added that. PIM is _extremely_ important to me, and from everything I have seen, a weakness in the Touch/iPhone. Is that true from your experience, or is that not so important to you?

I saw that there was iSilo in the app store recently and that got me excited about yet another "critical" app that has made it onto the platform. So it's "almost there" on the software side of things.

How's the battery life? Better than the iPhone, I assume. But even close to a TX?

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
gmayhak @ 4/10/2009 8:09:06 PM # Q
It comes with a basic Calender that you can set alarms and appointment info, a Contacts app, and Notes with some nice graphics. I have very little use for any of them because I'm mostly on the desktop. There are several others in the app store and I don't doubt there are plenty more coming. This one looks like it might be pretty good...
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=302503702&mt=8
MyTX kills the battery in about an hour, replaced the battery, didn't help :-/
I think the iPhone battery life is a few hours depending on the apps you are running, mine is usually tethered to the Mac so not sure. I do see why Apple is against multi tasking and background apps, the top button that you use to turn off the Touch blanks the display but if you have an app running I believe it continues to run and suck up battery, I've forgotten a couple times and the battery was almost gone in the morning. If you remember to quit the app first the standby time is great.
If you need to you can shut the whole thing down and 'reboot' when you want to use it again.
It really sucks that we have to consider another platform, this is where Palm should have been!

Gary
Tech Center Labs

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
twrock @ 4/10/2009 10:00:47 PM # Q
Ouch on that TX battery! My 3.5 year old battery will still give me many hours of use. I did install a replacement battery a while back but reverted to the original when it turned out the "new" replacement gave less battery life! Avoid Cameron Sino batteries everyone! They are a total scam.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?
RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
rmhurdman @ 4/11/2009 8:43:30 PM # Q
Gary,

Thanks for your thoughts. I enjoyed programming for PalmOS (as a hobby) and I enjoyed the "community" feeling. That's gone from Palm now, but like you say, it almost feels as though Apple has picked up where Palm left off. I'm planning to get a shiny new iMac (when I save up), but was wondering if programming for the iPhone/iPod Touch would be as much fun. I'm encouraged by your experience.

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
twrock @ 4/12/2009 7:21:44 AM # Q
gmayhak wrote:
Here's my conspericy theory, Apple has the bucks and what if the ex apple guys pointing the way for palm aren't really so ex? That's the only reason I can think of for palm to throw away everything and everyone from the past and head for the clouds :-/

My take? No Apple conspiracy. Just a lot of really horrible and arrogant leadership at Palm. Splitting the company up was amazingly stupid, and they've been paying for it ever since. Someone (Colligan?) finally said "enough's enough" and focused on getting the next generation OS back in house where it belonged. And it seems it was him who went out and sold the vision and made believers out of the investors.

I don't think there was a realistic second option at that point. They were already well on their way to a slow and painful death. So they've bet the farm on this release and are pulling out all the stops to make it work. It might fail, but if it does, it won't be because they aren't trying. I do think the "Apple guys" came on board because they actually believed it was possible and are the kind of people who like to create something new and do something challenging. This is for sure a challenge!

If somehow Palm does pull this off, it will be an amazing comeback story. It'll be the kind of thing people can feel proud about helping make happen. There's a lot of motivation there for the right kind of people.

I'm still not interested in owning this new product with its new OS and "new" paradigm for mobile computing. What I am interested in is seeing whether or not Palm makes it. Right up until the time I figured out that Palm really is trying to be a whole new company, I was still waiting to see if somehow they were going to finally produce the device for me. (See my tagline.) But I gave up any realistic hope some time ago. Palm is highly unlikely to produce that device; it doesn't fit their new business model.

But I'm hanging around at least long enough to see how this plays out, out of curiosity if nothing else. In the mean time, I'm having a little fun posting here. And I am looking still, trying to find that "right device" somewhere out there that will be the "mini computer in my pocket that also makes phone calls."

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
hkklife @ 4/12/2009 10:38:25 AM # Q
Y'know, as I've said before, Access COULD be the company to bring us the perfect platform we've been awaiting for at least 5-6 years now: Stable, fully features next-gen Linux code combined with "classic" Palm OS PIM apps & compatibility. Add in stuff like resolution support greater than HVGA and WiMax or LTE support etc. And still maintain a toehold in the past for at least optionally offering the stuff that us old-timers like (styli, expansion card support, video recording, Graffiti 1, IR, tethered Hotsync etc). But who to provide the hardware? Wouldn't you love to see Nokia & Access REALLY partner up on a Pre/iPhone killer device(s)?

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: Meaningful or not, the name sucks
twrock @ 4/12/2009 6:00:40 PM # Q
hkklife wrote:
But who to provide the hardware? Wouldn't you love to see Nokia & Access REALLY partner up on a Pre/iPhone killer device(s)?

Yeah, there's one of the major problems: Access doesn't hardware. They don't make some of the important decisions when it comes to what actually is available for me to buy. And Nokia is still hoping Symbian is actually going to become "the smartphone OS."

I also think too many of us are only looking at the US market and don't really consider that the way to make the big bucks is to figure out how to be "the smartphone OS" for the rest of the world. (And with all the advertising I am seeing, Apple is trying here.) I'm still thinking that Android has a really good start on becoming that. Here's a "smartphone" (but even more) OS that you can take and slap on whatever hardware you want to sell, and you didn't have to pay to develop it. If it's any good at all, I can imagine it becoming "the" smartphone OS for the rest of the world.

Have a look at this link: http://phandroid.com/2009/04/06/amico-brava-runs-android-gets-picturedvideod/
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that is the phone I want, but just think about what's going on here when some little upstart company can drop a real smartphone OS into a large range of hardware and not have to pay for it. And you've got computer companies playing around with this thing, seeing how it works on netbooks and even more powerful hardware. And all of that OS development is being bankrolled by a company with a few gazillion dollars and an agenda that goes well beyond making money back directly on this investment. Their business model doesn't require it (vs. Palm's and Apple's).

I just think it's all very interesting at this point.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

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