Have Companies run out of Good Product Names?

This French food grater may top the charts.

How about WUS (windows update service) and more poor choices.

There are also a million products in a million different industries named "Vanguard". I guess because it's supposed to sound cool.

Of those, I don't think the Macbook, Gigabeat, or Core 2 Duo are bad, and we've all come to accept the Wii by now. Everyone wants their product to be distinctive. You're not decrying the iPod's moniker, but how does its name relate to its function? Taking a look at the first three I mentioned, though:

Apple macbook- Lackluster name not up to it's normal standards.

I don't think so. It tells you exactly what it is: a Mac notebook, which is more than "Power Mac" and "Powerbook" did.

Toshiba gigabeat- Now this name will appeal to the masses... with glasses taped together.

As well it should, because from all accounts I've heard, this is an exceptional player and we taped-glasses types that are well-informed enough to consider the fact that there are DAP alternatives should find it appealing.

Intel Core 2 Duo - 2+2=4 unless of course your from intel, then it means it's just a better 2.

This one I'm not a huge fan of, either (although I do want one soon), but not for any 2+2=4 reasons. The chip's feature is two cores, which is the reason for the "Duo," but once you throw in the "sequel number" (that is, 2) before the "Duo," I think it becomes more confusing for customers. However, if they're still going to push out "Solo" Core 2 chips, then I think it's a little more justifiable—like if car makers numbered their models by year or number in the series and then the package (Honda Accord 2006 EX, for instance).

And on this subject:

Motorola Slvr and Razr- What does Motorola have against vowels?

This is only annoying because they've perpetuated the trend with nearly every subsequent phone (PEBL, etc.).

Motorola Slvr and Razr- What does Motorola have against vowels?

Maybe it is like Wheel of Fortune. The more vowels they use, the more they have to pay to register the name. : )

You forgot the Motorola SCPL.

Apparently it's pronounced "scalpel," but that extra L would have just made it totally teh suck.

As far as Core 2 - I thought it was because this is the second revision of the "Core" architecture, which comes in both Duo (two cores) and Solo (one core) configurations. Don't get me wrong, it still sounds bad, but arguably better than "Yonah," "Conroe," and "Merom." And it's certainly no better or worse than Pentium, Athlon, Xeon, Opteron

PowerBook isn't really much better than MacBook, though I guess having Power in the name makes it sound....powerful. AppleBook is too man syllables, and IntelBook would make you think the whole thing was made by Intel. It's not quite as tight as the old naming scheme-where the "Power" prefix denoted a pro-level system, and "i" was consumer-but being that they're not using the PowerPC chips anymore, it makes sense.

"Wii," I must admit, is just plain bad. On the other hand, XBox and PlayStation aren't necessarily creative either.

I'm assuming the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK is a TV? Seems most of the new LCD and plasma sets coming out aren't even named at all, I'm sure TH-50PHD8UK means something to the engineers, but I can't be that hard to come up with a name for your line and simply add the screen size and HD at the end, i.e., "The Panasonic BigAssTV-60HD."

"MacBook" is a classic portmanteau and makes perfect sense. I don't see how anybody could object to it. The Nintendo Wii was a bit of a shocker for us all, but I think pretty much everybody got over the name a lot quicker than they thought they would. Having said that, I still don't think anybody loves the name, but it's definitely original, just like the system. The XBOX was named at the height of the "extreme!" fad, and already strikes me as dated. Adding a "360" to it seems nothing short of absurd.

And then there's Motorola and their attempts at a new Tetragrammaton. I could live with the RAZR, I accepted the PEBL, and I questioned the SLVR, but RIZR and KRZR? I think Motorola's gone KRZR.

Just like 'The Simpson's' I believe any thread should contain a related 'Futurama' quote:

Hermes:

According to government records, the only names not yet trademarked are Popplers and Zitzles.