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27 October 2008/
Microsoft Azure is to Cloud Computing…
by Ian Roberts at 9:06 pm 27 October 2008
Filed under: Branding, Identity
Tags: azure, Identity, microsoft, naming
Microsoft Cloud Computing
…what Port25 is to Open Source.
Is it me, or is ‘Azure’ the worst name you possibly could think of for a Cloud Computing initiative? The word Azure reminds people of a cloudless sky, a clear day. A world without clouds.
If you look up Azure in a dictionary, you get ‘cloudless’ over and over again. If you look up ’cloudless’ in a Thesaurus, you get Azure as the #1 synonym. Perhaps this is reverse engineering the Microsoft thought process.
It reeks of Phillip Morris’ nicotine addiction programs or oil companies’ alternative fuel advertising. Blatantly disingenuous.
So, what message is Microsoft, the traditional software company, trying to convey with this naming strategy? I think the answer is as clear as day.
Awesome.
Love it.
Comment by Nathalie — 10/27/2008 @ 10:52 pm
I’m not sure about “disingenuous” in this case. Is there some way people could be mislead about the “blueness” of this product?
I’m pretty sure the MacBook Air has a higher density than gaseous nitrogen, and no planes land at the Apple Airport. Sometimes marketing is just a cute–and, importantly, available–name.
Comment by Richard — 10/28/2008 @ 2:55 am
Did anyone else think of Clockwork Orange? The minister asks Alex if he’s made himself clear. Alex replies “As an unmuddied lake, Fred. As clear as an azure sky of deepest summer. You can rely on me, Fred.”
OTOH they’ll do cloud computing as long as every machine in the cloud has fully paid up Windows and Office licenses, plus cloud licenses, license licenses, etc.
Comment by deathByChiChi — 10/28/2008 @ 5:34 am
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Comment by Notizen - Microsofts wolkenloses Cloud-Computing — 10/28/2008 @ 9:34 pm
Microsoft Azure. That reminds me of something.
Perhaps this is the “official” name for the Blue Screen of Death?
Failing that, I think it is incredibly appropriate. A Microsoft-driven “cloud computing” network? As if that would ever work seamlessly and perfectly (not that Mobile Me is perfect neither (Grr Apple)) … so that would mean they have named it succinctly: No functioning “Cloud” leaves nought but an azure sky…
[!] Cloud Error
The sky is blue…
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Comment by Burton Haynes — 3/23/2010 @ 3:41 pm