A tablet for under a Benjamin?

Product names are tricky, there's no doubt about it. If you're not going to use a meaningless string of characters such as "X77-P73" then you've got your work cut out for you because it's hard to find a good name that isn't already taken by some other company. Even internal project names have to be researched, checked that they are OK to use and vetted by lawyers for liability.

I'm not sure which high-tech company was the first to give their projects code names (also referred to as "cryptonyms"). The computer companies have been at the name game for a long time using everything from the names of planets, rivers and cities through to musicians' names, the names of comic book characters and the names of minerals.

IN PICTURES: Uncovering Tech's Most Peculiar Product Codenames

For example, way back in the mists of Internet time (in 1995), Intel's Advanced/ZP and Advanced/ZE motherboards were code-named "Zappa" ... which prompted the estate of Frank Zappa (who died in 1993) to complain to the point where Intel changed the project's name to "Tahiti" (I was surprised to discover this; I would have thought Frank would have rather approved of being memorialized as a computer component).

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Product names are tricky, there's no doubt about it. If you're not going to use a meaningless string of characters such as "X77-P73" then you've got your work cut out for you because it's hard to find a good name that isn't already taken by some other company. Even internal project names have to be researched, checked that they are OK to use and vetted by lawyers for liability.

I'm not sure which high-tech company was the first to give their projects code names (also referred to as "cryptonyms"). The computer companies have been at the name game for a long time using everything from the names of planets, rivers and cities through to musicians' names, the names of comic book characters and the names of minerals.

IN PICTURES: Uncovering Tech's Most Peculiar Product Codenames

For example, way back in the mists of Internet time (in 1995), Intel's Advanced/ZP and Advanced/ZE motherboards were code-named "Zappa" ... which prompted the estate of Frank Zappa (who died in 1993) to complain to the point where Intel changed the project's name to "Tahiti" (I was surprised to discover this; I would have thought Frank would have rather approved of being memorialized as a computer component).

The problem with code names is that many of them are simply uncool, and other than the Zappa effort, Intel may well be the master of uncool code names with products called things like "Sandy Bridge" and "Haswell." While these names may have been used for good reasons, such as avoiding other companies' trademarks and names that might be simply annoying, there's nothing groovy at all about them.

Am I wrong in wanting my high-tech products to sound high-tech or at least sound somewhat cool?

Intel's "Alfredo" (a 1993 motherboard) was OK (maybe even saucy) while even "Aladdin" (a 1998 motherboard built for Gateway; also spelled "Alladin" probably in an attempt to avoid Disney's lawyers) wasn't too bad, but things like "Ephraim" (a 2008 solid state drive) just don't cut it.

While I love the Ubuntu operating system I have serious objections to the associated project names: 2004's "Warty Warthog" (ugh) was followed by 2005's "Hoary Hedgehog" (gak) and a galaxy of other uncool names up to the last two releases in 2011 ... "Natty Narwhal" (barf) followed by "Oneiric Ocelot" (just shoot me).

What do we have to look forward to in 2012? "Precise Pangolin"! Really?

When someone asks me what I'm running and I say "Ubuntu 11.10" I do not want to be asked, "Is that the 'Oneiric Ocelot' release?" I want to be asked, "Is that the 'Death Star' release?" or "Is that the 'Ebola' release? Those names sound serious. Names like "Donald Duck" or "Rose Geranium" ... not so much. In fact, not at all.

Even Google, which has a tendency to be somewhat cool and groovy, jettisoned those characteristics when it came to operating system project names.

For Google's Android operating system (which is, in itself, a very cool, groovy, high tech-sounding name) the company used the names of desserts! Thus we have had releases named "Cupcake," "Donut," "Éclair," "Froyo" (a premium frozen yogurt, in case you're wondering), "Gingerbread" and "Honeycomb," followed by the latest release, "Ice Cream Sandwich." Meh.