TechCrunch reports that Microsoft calls its next operating system (the one after Vista) Windows 7. Mickey comments:

I’d love to see them start using logical numbers again, but it doesn’t add up:

Windows 3.1 (“Windows 3″)
Windows 95 (4)
Windows 98 (5)
Windows ME/2000 (6)
Windows XP (7)
Windows Vista (8)
Windows 7 (9?)

I guess maybe if you call Windows 3.1 “Windows 1″ (since that was the first one that was any good), then it increments to the next version being 7.

This makes me wonder if Microsoft was influenced by Seinfeld’s George’s liking of “Seven” as a name for a kid. Hey, Jerry was in the commercials… so the connection could be there.

Numbers work most of the time in the software business, but not for many others. If Microsoft sticks with Windows 7 and proceeds to follow it with 8, 9, 9.5 (Photoshop 5.5 was a biggie) then it should work out fine as it has for Explorer 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Look at Firefox — 1.x, 2.0, 3.0. Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. But then Apple had to go and confuse us with Mac OS X Leopard (it’s Mac OS 10.5).

But for other industries, number names get lost especially in the automobile industry. I’m trying to come up with a couple of examples of cars using numbers (other than what I drive — guilty of a “letters and number” name with no words) and they’re not coming to me or I am not sure if I remember right (“Is it 30 or 31? Audi or Infiniti? Or maybe Lexus.”).

Yet, I can identify an Expedition and Suburbans and can tell you who makes each one (Ford and Chevy in that order). So is a GLX better than an LX because it has an extra letter? But what if it’s an SL? Which one is better? LX or SL? Some cars use names like Sport, Touring, Grand Touring. So is Sport the fully-loaded one or Grand Touring?

Good thing we couldn’t have had a V9 or V12. How would we distinguish those from a V8 other than they might contain more vegetables? Good thing the company stuck with V8 and expanded its product line around that name.

I’ve always thought telephone companies with initials just didn’t sound as powerful as those with a word or two in their names (MCI Worldcom does not count). Verizon and Cingular smartly dumped their initialized company names for memorable ones. Of course, Cingular went away with the merger and returned to initials.

Tried to find other articles on the topic, but with keywords like brand, number, names… not an easy task. Did find one good one: Counting on Your Brand’s Name.

What do you think of brand names with numbers and letters? Sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t? Doesn’t work without at least one identifier (like Windows or Explorer)?

It may be this blog’s birthday, but the presents will go to readers like you. All the birthday details here. Here are the games up for winning!

• Reflexive contributes a total of 10 copies of three games! Some are for Mac.
  • Big Kahuna Reef 2: 4 copies (2 Mac and 2 PC)
  • Ricochet Infinity: 2 copies (PC)
  • Airport Mania: 4 copies (2 Mac and 2 PC)
• One full copy of Orchidia PC game from Joyboost. See Meryl’s Orchidia review.
  • One full copy of Spinword PC game from Joyboost.
  • One full copy of Astraware Classic Collection, which includes Astraware Sudoku, Astraware Solitaire, and Astraware Board games. Astraware is one of Meryl’s favorite — if not the best — developer of handheld software.
• Two full copies of Magic Farm Game PC games from Oleg Kuznecov of Meridian’93.
• Unicorn Castle from PC game from Oleg Kuznecov of Meridian’93.
• One copy for a reader and one copy for a guest blogger. My Magic Farm review.
• One Alawar PC game package including full copies of Virtual Farm, Curse of Montezuma, and Alex Gordon.
• Full copy of First Class Flurry PC game from Chanon Sajjamanochai of Viquagames. Meryl’s First Class Fury review.
• Full copy of Lex Venture: A Crossword Caper PC game from Mark Kanter of Bang Out Games. Meryl’s Lex Venture: A Crossword Caper review.

I rarely check out videos because chances are high that it won’t have captions or subtitles. But I bit on this Lenovo-produced video comparing its ThinkPad X300 to the MacBook Air [link: Dave Winer]. It presents a powerful visual message without using words.

But not one to let commercials sway me without research, I wondered how many attachments MacBook Air owners realllllly use. Lenovo smartly added attachments of products it has in its ultraportable Thinkpad X300 to the Mac Air to make people think thinner isn’t always better — you sacrifice some things.

Just looking at the two computers, the Mac Air still wows with its thinness. I found a twitterfriend who owns a Mac Air FabGal — check out our twitversation:

FabGal: Sorry, but mah MacBook Air could kick that ThinkPad’s ass. And also? It’s shiny! And silver! And my preshus. (drool)

Me: Mac Air does still look wowie wow wow. What do you add on to it regularly?

FabGal: I haven’t added anything to it so far. Everything transfered from iBook wirelessly. Am thinking of a superdrive, though.

So there you have it. One owner who doesn’t even have anything on her Mac Air. So seriously, how many Mac Air owners buy attachments and use them regularly? One attachment might not be so bad.

Nonetheless, the message comes through powerfully and will likely sway Windows users not to make the switch to a Mac … not just yet.

The iPod has that certain something that leads its users to adore it like nothing before. People want nothing but an iPod. No substitutes even when the non-iPod has more memory, comes in your favorite color and costs over $100 less than an iPod. So how did the iPod earn this special treatment and the ability to compel people to say, “Cool” when they hold one?

A book cover in the disguise of an iPod, albeit on paper, still manages to ooze coolness though it isn’t the real thing. Scroll your finger over the cover’s button and scroll wheel and you can feel the smooth button extend slightly above the scroll wheel. Apple has established itself as a company that goes all out when creating a product, but there’s much more to the iPod story than people realize. The Perfect Thing explores many aspects of the story.

As a deaf person, I’m hardly the music lover who would take an interest in the iPod. I received the book as an abstract assignment and it gripped me from page 1 to the index. I received an iPod video for a gift (I do enjoy some songs that I pick up and learn by heart. Plus, I used it to listen to children’s books in audio to practice listening), but someone stole it.

While reading The Perfect Thing, I couldn’t help but order an iPod Nano straight from Apple’s Web site complete with my name engraved on its beautiful red skin. I also bought a cover to protect the iPod as I don’t like it when my gadgets get marks on them. But then I reached the part where Steve Jobs took offense to seeing Levy’s iPod covered up. Because of that, the beautiful red color and the way the aluminum felt — I took off the cover for good.

The chapters, like iPod’s shuffle feature, are independent and don’t go in a specific order except the first chapter. I don’t know if that’s true, as I haven’t seen another hard copy of the book.

“Perfect,” goes behind the scenes of iPod’s launch in October 2001, not the greatest timing after 9/11. “Download” covers the revolution of downloading and digitizing music including codec, MP3s, WinAmp, Napster and the record companies suing. “What makes an item cool?” sets the tone for the chapter titled, “Cool.” Can there be a formula for coolness? This chapter teaches great marketing lessons from Apple’s design, packaging and advertising of the iPod.

“Origin” returns to the iPod’s roots on its development and the things that came before iPod that affected the iPod’s creation. There’s a reason we use the word podcast instead of audiocasts when referring to audio feeds. “Podcast” visits the formation of citizen broadcasting from CB radio to podcasting.

People judge each other by the clothing they wear, they do the same by the playlists they carry in their iPods as “Identity” delves into the fashion statement of playlists. No one expected Apple to make a comeback, not even when Steve Jobs returned in 2000, and “Apple” touches upon the comeback and how Apple surpassed the market’s expectations. The iPod attracts thieves and the earbuds send a message to the public “to leave me alone” as the “Personal” chapter looks back at the Sony Walkman, the white earbuds, hearing loss and how users personalize their iPods.

The shuffle feature scrambles music hence the name for the cheapest and smallest iPod Shuffle. The feature is simple, yet the chapter on “Shuffle” offers fascinating insight into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the shuffle formula. Some people swear that some songs, artists and whatnot get more attention than others do. But everyone at Apple, including the engineers, says shuffle works randomly. Intriguing stuff anyway.

Marketers, iPod lovers, Apple lovers, Mac lovers, business people, technology people, gadget people. The book will appeal to all of them. After all, Levy writes, “The iPod is a pebble with tsunami-sized cultural ripples.”

Title: The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness
Author: Steven Levy
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0743285220
Date: October 2006
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Cover Price: USD: $25.00 Amazon: $16.50