The Back Page: What’s in a name?

Okay, Apple, listen up. I’m calling you on the carpet.

Stop stealing my gig.

Oh, sure, play innocent. But I’ve been watching for you for years.

Look, it started innocently enough. Time Machine. I get it, it’s a pop culture trope. And the feature lets you go back in time and get your files. Plus, I have to admit, it’s saved my bacon more than a few times over the years so I’ll let it slide; after all, it’s not like you went the whole way and called it DMC DeLorean or TARDIS.

But then you couldn’t help yourself: you just kept going. Deep Fusion? Really? A16 Bionic? The Photonic Engine?

Is your marketing department just two people with a set of darts and a copy of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual?

I get it, I do. Naming is an important part of product development and not every product is going to be as instantly iconic as the Macintosh or the iPod or the iPhone 14 Pro Max with Super Retina XDR display.…