How these tech companies got their names

Wondering how Wipro, Apple, Microsoft, Accenture got their iconic brand names? We reveal the fascinating stories.

According to Steve Jobs, Apple was so named because Jobs was coming back from an apple farm, and he was on a fruitarian diet. He thought the name was "fun, spirited and not intimidating".

 

Wipro: From Western India Palm Refined Oil Ltd Wipro Technologies. The company started as a modest Vanaspati and laundry soap producer and is now also an IT services giant.

 

Hotmail: Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service he tried all kinds of names ending in 'mail' and finally settled for Hotmail as it included the letters "HTML" – the markup language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective upper casing.

 

Facebook: Name stems from the colloquial name of books given to newly enrolled students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better. 

 

Twitter: Having rejected the name Twitch for their social networking service, co-founder Jack Dorsey says: "we looked in the dictionary for words around it and we came across the word 'twitter' and it was just perfect. The definition was 'a short burst of inconsequential.

 

Accenture From "Accent on the future". The name Accenture was proposed by a company employee in Norway as part of an internal name finding process (BrandStorming). Before 1 January 2001, the company was called Andersen Consulting. 

 

According to the founder of Samsung Group, the meaning of Samsung is "tristar" or "three stars". The word "three" represents something "big, numerous and powerful"; the "stars" mean eternity. 

 

Adobe Systems: From the Adobe Creek that ran behind the house of co-founder John Warnock.

 

Google: An originally accidental misspelling of the word googol and settled upon because google.com was unregistered. Googol was proposed to reflect the company's mission to organize the immense amount of information available online. (Googol is equivalent to ten raised to the power of a hundred.) 

 

Acer: Born as Multitech International in 1976, the company changed its name to Acer in 1987. The Latin word for “sharp, acute, able and facile”.

 

Skype: The original concept for the name was Sky-Peer-to-Peer, which morphed into Skyper, then Skype.

 

Dell: Named after its founder, Michael Dell. The company changed its name from Dell Computer in 2003.

 

Amazon.com: Founder Jeff Bezos renamed the company Amazon (from the earlier name of Cadabra.com) after the world's most voluminous river, the Amazon. He saw the potential for a larger volume of sales in an online (as opposed to a bricks and mortar) bookstore. (Another story goes that Amazon was chosen to cash in on the popularity of Yahoo, which listed entries alphabetically.) 

 

Infosys: Short form of ‘Information Systems’

 

Cisco : Short for San Francisco. 

 

Lenovo Group: A portmanteau of "Le-" (from former name Legend) and "novo", pseudo-Latin for "new". This Chinese company took over IBM's PC division. 

 

Microsoft : Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to microcomputer software. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the '-' disappeared on 3/2/1987 with the introduction of a new corporate identity and logo. 

 

Epson: Epson Seiko Corporation, the Japanese printer and peripheral manufacturer, was named from "Son of Electronic Printer" after a highly successful model, the EP-101. 

 

Novell: Novell, Inc. was earlier Novell Data Systems co-founded by George Canova. The name was suggested by George's wife who mistakenly thought that "Novell" meant new in French. (Nouvelle is the feminine form of the French adjective 'Nouveau'. Nouvelle as a noun in French is 'news'.) 

 

Compaq: From computer and "pack" to denote a small integral object; or: Compatibility And Quality; or: from the company's first product, the very compact Compaq Portable.

 

Mozilla Foundation From the name of the web browser that preceded Netscape Navigator. When Marc Andreesen, co-founder of Netscape, created a browser to replace the Mosaic browser, it was internally named Mozilla (Mosaic-Killer, Godzilla) by Jamie Zawinski. 

 

HP: Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. 

 

Asus : Named after Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. The first three letters of the word were dropped to get a high position in alphabetical listings. An Asus company named Pegatron, using the spare letters, was spun off in 2008. 

 

Sun Microsystems Its founders designed their first workstation in their dorm at Stanford University, and chose the name Stanford University Network for their product, hoping to sell it to the college. They did not. 

 

HTC Corporation: A contraction of its original corporate name, High Tech Computer Corporation. 

 

Groupon: Chief executive Andrew Mason used the derivation as his five-word acceptance speech at the 2011 Webby Awards ceremony: "It's short for group coupon."

 

IBM: Named by Tom (Thomas John) Watson Sr, an ex-employee of National Cash Register (NCR Corporation). To one-up them in all respects, he called his company International Business Machines. 

 

Oracle : Larry Ellison, Ed Oates and Bob Miner were working on a consulting project for the CIA. The code name for the project was Oracle. The project was designed to use the newly written SQL database language from IBM. The project was eventually terminated but they decided to finish what they started and bring it to the world. Later they changed the name of the company, Relational Software Inc., to the name of the product.

 

eBay: Pierre Omidyar, who had created the Auction Web trading website, had formed a web consulting concern called Echo Bay Technology Group. "Echo Bay" did not refer to the town in Nevada, "It just sounded cool", Omidyar reportedly said. Echo Bay Mines Limited, a gold mining company, had already taken EchoBay.com, so Omidyar registered what (at the time) he thought was the second best name: eBay.com. 

 

SAP: SystemAnalyse und Programmentwicklung (German for "System analysis and program development"), a company formed by five ex-IBM employees who used to work in the 'Systems/Applications/Projects' group of IBM. Later, SAP was redefined to stand for Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung (Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing).

 

HCL: HCL is the short form of Hindustan Computers Ltd, Indian Software Company founded by Shiv Nadar. 

 

Nero – Nero Burning ROM named after Nero burning Rome ("Rom" is the German spelling of "Rome"). 

Most powerful women who run the world

Number 7
Michelle Obama was the first lady to host the kids' State Dinner, to promote healthy eating among the youth.

 

Number 11 Oprah Winfrey: The popular TV star is also a vocal advocate for the education and well-being of women and children, and helps people through Oprah's Angel Network.

 

Number 14
Lady Gaga: The singer started the Born This Way Foundation this year, with funding from Harvard University and the MacArthur Foundation.

 

Number 32
Beyonce Knowles: A platinum album, a clothing line and supporting the First Lady's initiatives for children has this singer on the power list.

 

Number 33
Diane von Furstenberg: The design powerhouse was termed the most powerful woman in fashion.

 

Number 38
Jennifer Lopez was termed Forbes No. 1 Most Powerful Celebrity in the World for 2012, with a net worth of 52 million dollars.

 

Number 40
Shakira was the youngest woman to be chosen as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

 

Number 51
Anna Wintour shaped international news with the launch of Vogue's 916 page September issue.

 

Number 66 Angelina Jolie: Mother of six, actress and philanthropist, she was recently appointed as the special envoy to the UNHCR.

 

Number 67
Miuccia Prada, the Italian fashion mogul is estimated to have a net worth of 6.8 billion dollars in 2012.

 

Number 75
Sofia Vergara made her debut on the list this year. She co-owns the media company Latin WE, that focuses on expanding the U.S. Hispanic economy.

 

Number 83
Gisele Bündchen is rated as the highest earning model in the world, earning an estimated 45 million dollars last year.

 

Bollywood’s women of style and substance

They may be queens of glamour and fame but these lovely ladies don’t shy away from going all out for the greater good. Take a look at some of Bollywood’s famous beauties with a cause.

Glamour girl Priyanka Chopra has since carved a niche for herself as an acclaimed actress. But She’s also one of the most socially responsible actors in India. Through the years she’s supported and spoken about many causes education for the underprivileged, female infanticide and feticide. In 2010, she was appointed the Unicef Goodwill Ambassador. She’s the brand ambassador for NDTV Greenathon which looks into the lack of electricity in rural villages. As part of the campaign to raise awareness she adopted 3 villages to work towards their welfare. The ever brazen Preity Zinta might be known for bubbly roles on screen but, she has definitely reached heights with her courage and humanitarian work. She works with charities involved in creating awareness about female infanticide, HIV/AIDS, Blood donation and human trafficking. On her 34th birthday she adopted 34 girls in Rishikesh to provide them with education and a better life.

 

India’s ultimate fashionista Sonam Kapoor might be well known for her keen style sense but this girl not just about the labels. In 2012 Sonam auctioned her clothes online. The proceeds of which went to Smile Foundation which works to support poor children. She wanted this money to help educate underprivileged kids. She was also chosen the brand ambassador of Ogaan Cancer Foundation to help spread awareness about breast cancer.

 

Former Miss India and actress Celina Jaitly is a strong supporter and activist for equal rights for the LGBT community. She was a prominent face during the protests to repeal Article 377 and has worked for the welfare of the LGBT community. Celina has also campaigned for PETA and has reportedly pledged her eyes Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital in support of eye donation.

 

Former Miss Asia Pacific and actress Dia Mirza is also a socially responsible actress.She supports social organisations such as Cancer Patients Aid Association. She's also the spokesperson for a green environment campaign. And has been actively involved with the Andhra Pradesh government to spread HIV awareness and prevent female foeticide? Add to this, also supports PETA and CRY.

 

In the wake of the Delhi gangrape case Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra organized a women’s self defense camp and professed the importance of self defense in a woman’s life in today’s time. The actress is also a supporter of PETA and worked with organizations to help spread awareness about HIV/AIDS.

 

Bollywood's queen bee Kareena Kapoor joined the Shakti Campaign which aimed at fighting violence against women in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. Through her years as a prominent personality Kareena has never shied away from being involved in several humanitarian causes.

 

India's global star Aishwarya Rai was appointed UNAIDS goodwill ambassador to help raise awareness on issues related to stopping new HIV infections in children. She also donated her eyes to the Eye Bank Association of India.She founded the Aishwarya Rai Foundation to help those in need. And was chosen as the first Goodwill Ambassador of Smile Train - an international organisation that provides free cleft lip and palate surgery.

 

India’s first Miss Universe, actress Sushmita Sen set an example for the world to applaud when she adopted a baby girl. Today Ms Sen has two adopted daughters and is a supporter of the girl child movement. She’s associated with several charity events and has carved a niche for herself as a humanitarian.

 

One of Bollywood’s finest actresses Vidya Balan is also an involved philanthropist. Reportedly she’s worked for the welfare of underprivileged girls and has become the brand ambassador for drinking water and sanitation campaign.

Let’s Talk About It: Fathers, daughters and the R-word

Murder is kosher. War needs no introduction. Even school shootings make the cut at the dinner table. But rape? No. Never. We never talk about it.

My daughter, nearly five, can read. She reads fairy-tales aloud, she reads shop-signs from a moving car (we’ve successfully deflected her attention from the ‘Piles and Fistula’ clinics in the proletarian parts of town), she spots hilarious if confounding legends on the backs of auto-rickshaws (yes, we’ve had engrossing family debates over ‘Mother is god, lover is danger’) and she catches typos in the fliers that the paperboy gets paid for tucking into our breakfast reading.

When she’s really bored, she reads the newspapers.

At home we get two dailies, three on weekends. Since December 17, the headlines have consistently screamed a certain four-letter word in our faces. It has latched onto our consciences and eaten into the comfortable fabric of our lives. Despite such bombardment, we cannot escape being startled to violent, impotent rage every time it is uttered. The images it evokes are unbearably terrifying, even dooming. Yet, as we attempt to shrug away the deluge of horror stories now pouring out of the prisons where they have long been locked away, we hear and read that this – this thing – is more commonplace than we imagined. That it could be only a single frightening degree of separation from our sheltered lives.

It is rape we’re not talking about. Although we have all read enough to be informed that we must talk about it. But when we nod our heads in agreement in a social situation we’re talking detachedly about the lives of others – people we don’t know, over whose pains we shall never lose sleep.

And the headlines they continue to scream, telling of shocking tragedies that we pray we won’t ever have the misfortune to endure. If we’re careful, we whisper soothingly to ourselves, if we’re careful.

It’s only a matter of time before my daughter, who has learned to argue with conviction about her “fundamental rights”, asks me what rape means. We’ve discussed everything from butterfly migration (“Where are the blue butterflies we saw last year?”) to retail supply chains (“Where do the toys in toy stores come from?”), all in answer to direct, sharply framed questions from which there is no weaseling out. To her, I’m the fount of encyclopedic wisdom, the Jedi master who unlocks the mysteries of the Force. I can’t afford to let her down. Or she might go and find out from somewhere – or someone – else.

When I’m not Superdad, I’m a cog in a media machine where news is chosen not for its salience but for its propensity to turn casual, accidental readers like you into patrons who will come back for more. We media-types place rape high among our priorities, right up there next to the Bollywood starlet’s wardrobe malfunction and anything cricket. It’s a hot-ticket item with great stamina and shelf-life, what with all the moralistic chest-thumping and TV debates and candle-light marches and water-cannon-baiting protestors. Oh yeah, we devote a lot of space to rape.

But we don’t talk about it. Not at home.

Murder is kosher. War needs no introduction. Even school shootings make the cut at the dinner table. But rape? No. Never.

And not just because we fear or loathe it, but because somewhere in our heads we confuse it with carnal knowledge – an unwelcome, premature, irreversible initiation to life’s embarrassing truths.

Talking about rape isn’t like clearing your throat, putting on a poker-face, and delivering a preamble on birds and bees and dogs and cats. Though it begins there. Sort of.

Unlike consensual sex, which a person has a right to experience upon attaining legal age for it, rape is an act of violence where the perpetrator does not always care if his victim has attained sexual maturity. Minors, toddlers, even babies – of all genders – are raped more frequently than we want to know, most often by people known to them. People they trusted.

There’s the rub. So, whom can you trust?

My wife, for reasons she can justify, distrusts men in general. In her book, no one is a saint. Everyone – no exceptions here – starts at a zero-trust level and then works their way up, if at all. It’s an approach that is effort-intensive and stressful; it requires her to keep a sharp, paranoid eye on our little girl at all times. Often, when she deputes me to stand in, I can tell she’s not entirely confident of my level of alertness to danger. I’m comfortable with that for the most part, but there’s one thing of which I’m watchful: I don’t want our daughter growing up fearing the world she must at some point confront on her own.

We both want her to understand danger, to be able to read the warning signs, and to act appropriately to save her skin. We want her to be able to cope positively in adversity. We want her to be confident about her body, not resentful of it. We want her to feel proud of her femininity, not threatened or vulnerable on account of it.

There’s no easy way. We started the conversation with an iPad app for kids that confirmed her suspicions that male and female bodies are indeed different and work differently. While bathing her and dressing her, we encourage her to talk about her body without shyness or reserve. We tell her about parts of her body that are “private”, which only she and her caregivers can examine or touch, and in what circumstances it is all right for them to do so. We tell her about “good touch” and “bad touch” – and debate endlessly over the social mechanics of it. We drill her on how to respond and react if she thinks a touch is “bad” and how, and whom, to call for help. From time to time, when we get lost, we turn to The Yellow Book: A Parent’s Guide to Sexuality Education and other online resources.

None of this, we know, is going to erase rape from the world, or keep the headlines from screaming. At least not until fundamental systemic changes take effect in our society. Meanwhile, the questions, when they come, will fly at us thick and fast. I try to wrap my head around the answers I will give. I try to frame them mentally so that they sound neither unconvincing nor terrifying. Both are undesirable outcomes – the last thing we want is to have her believe that sexual abuse or rape isn’t serious enough to be talked about, or develop a fear of it so overblown and irrational that it cripples her for life.

I have but one chance to get this right.

Looking up from a book she is reading, my daughter smiles. Maybe she can read my mind.