7 ms·

Yeah, I didn't agree with the name criticism either. For the small sample of us techies, sure, it has some negative associations (but even still not significant

Yeah, I didn't agree with the name criticism either. For the small sample of us techies, sure, it has some negative associations (but even still not significantly so). For most, however, it's positive: Boom, drops the mic; Sonic boom, something good in the technical advancements of achieving great speed; and great for a simple, easy to remember, evocative brand name.

Someone 10y ago
There's also the example of Steve Jobs. He used the word 'boom' quite a bit in keynotes (silly compilation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38Sb3FOYmY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38Sb3FOYmY), always with the positive connotation of 'get results fast'. I don't remember anyone ever making a remark that it had negative connotations. On the other hand, if this becomes a successful company, it is inevitable one of their planes will go boom in a negative way one day, and that day will see quite a few bad jokes. Will that permanently damage the brand? That, I think, is anybody's guess, and may not be caused by the name. 'MH' didn't have any connotation positive or negative a few years ago, but I expect it will be a few years before anybody considers using that airline abbreviation again.
- jessaustin 10y ago
  Aren't Malaysian still using the "MH" designation?
  - Someone 10y ago
    You are right. I thought Malaysian had stopped operations, but Google tells me it was nationalized and Wikipedia that their subsidiary MASwings uses the code.
    - gassit 10y ago
      Malaysia are still in almost full operation. They never stopped using MH. There are currently 37 MH flights in the air at the moment according to FlightRadar.
- samstave 10y ago
  Concorde had a fatal crash... but then they went out of business (er their division was dropped?) -- but everyone wants faster than sound transport between continents. I doubt BOOM will ever be a detracting brand issue.
  - duaneb 10y ago
    > I doubt BOOM will ever be a detracting brand issue. I dunno, it could turn against them if they have reliability issues. "BOOM is the sound their planes make when exploding on takeoff", etc.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
_vn5r 10y ago
Why does it have negative associations for us techies? It sure doesn't for me.
- mikeryan 10y ago
  In the previous thread some associated "Boom" with "Something blowing up" which wasn't perceived as a great name for a plane.
  - zdean 10y ago
    Yeah, I thought it was a horrible name in light of the fact that the last supersonic jet program was permanently grounded because of a crash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590
    - Alphasite_ 10y ago
      Was it not grounded due to Airbus ending their support agreements?
    - aptwebapps 10y ago
      That just moved things up a bit - they were already winding it down.
- snissn 10y ago
  Makes me think of the challenger disaster [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disas...
- CalRobert 10y ago
  The first thing that came to my mind was sonic boom, which made me think of Guile from Street Fighter II, who was one of my favourite characters. It also reminded me of my dad describing the sound of sonic booms as jets passed overhead (he lived fairly close to an air force base). Then I read more comments here and now I think of crashing and death :-(.
jloughry 10y ago
It's an example of Antonin Scalia's advice to "yield indefensible terrain---ostentatiously": Rarely will all the points, both of fact and law, be in your favor. Openly acknowledge the ones that are against you. In fact, if you're the appellant, run forth to meet the obvious ones. [1] [1] Dan Slater. "Scalia and Garner: 'Yield Indefensible Terrain---Ostentatiously'" in The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, April 29, 2008.

Someone 10y ago

There's also the example of Steve Jobs. He used the word 'boom' quite a bit in keynotes (silly compilation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38Sb3FOYmY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38Sb3FOYmY), always with the positive connotation of 'get results fast'. I don't remember anyone ever making a remark that it had negative connotations. On the other hand, if this becomes a successful company, it is inevitable one of their planes will go boom in a negative way one day, and that day will see quite a few bad jokes. Will that permanently damage the brand? That, I think, is anybody's guess, and may not be caused by the name. 'MH' didn't have any connotation positive or negative a few years ago, but I expect it will be a few years before anybody considers using that airline abbreviation again.

jessaustin 10y ago
Aren't Malaysian still using the "MH" designation?
- Someone 10y ago
  You are right. I thought Malaysian had stopped operations, but Google tells me it was nationalized and Wikipedia that their subsidiary MASwings uses the code.
  - gassit 10y ago
    Malaysia are still in almost full operation. They never stopped using MH. There are currently 37 MH flights in the air at the moment according to FlightRadar.
samstave 10y ago
Concorde had a fatal crash... but then they went out of business (er their division was dropped?) -- but everyone wants faster than sound transport between continents. I doubt BOOM will ever be a detracting brand issue.
- duaneb 10y ago
  > I doubt BOOM will ever be a detracting brand issue. I dunno, it could turn against them if they have reliability issues. "BOOM is the sound their planes make when exploding on takeoff", etc.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

_vn5r 10y ago

Why does it have negative associations for us techies? It sure doesn't for me.

mikeryan 10y ago
In the previous thread some associated "Boom" with "Something blowing up" which wasn't perceived as a great name for a plane.
- zdean 10y ago
  Yeah, I thought it was a horrible name in light of the fact that the last supersonic jet program was permanently grounded because of a crash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590
  - Alphasite_ 10y ago
    Was it not grounded due to Airbus ending their support agreements?
  - aptwebapps 10y ago
    That just moved things up a bit - they were already winding it down.
snissn 10y ago
Makes me think of the challenger disaster [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disas...
CalRobert 10y ago
The first thing that came to my mind was sonic boom, which made me think of Guile from Street Fighter II, who was one of my favourite characters. It also reminded me of my dad describing the sound of sonic booms as jets passed overhead (he lived fairly close to an air force base). Then I read more comments here and now I think of crashing and death :-(.

jloughry 10y ago

It's an example of Antonin Scalia's advice to "yield indefensible terrain---ostentatiously": Rarely will all the points, both of fact and law, be in your favor. Openly acknowledge the ones that are against you. In fact, if you're the appellant, run forth to meet the obvious ones. [1] [1] Dan Slater. "Scalia and Garner: 'Yield Indefensible Terrain---Ostentatiously'" in The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, April 29, 2008.