 |
| CNN WEB SITES: |
|
| TIME INC. SITES: |
| MORE SERVICES: |
| video on demand |
| video archive |
| audio on demand |
| news email services |
| free email accounts |
| desktop headlines |
| pointcast |
| pagenet |
| DISCUSSION: |
| message boards |
| chat |
| feedback |
| SITE GUIDES: |
| help |
| contents |
| search |
| FASTER ACCESS: |
| europe |
| japan |
| WEB SERVICES: |
From...
'2000' just ain't what it used to be
The tech world cashes in on "2000" titles, but in ten short months, what was once a bridge to the future becomes a relic of the past.
February 15, 1999
Web posted at: 2:01 p.m. EST (1901 GMT)
by Tom Spring
(IDG) -- For decades the word "2000" has given a product the Midas touch, with its intriguing suggestion of the next millenium. But in ten short months, what was once a bridge to the future becomes a relic of the past.
"2000" has given software and hardware suppliers marketing cachet similar to what "hi-tech" has brought to the branding of everything from cars to can openers. Think of Windows 2000, Peachtree 2000, VR Baseball 2000, French 2000, and a very long list of software titles.
There is definitely a 2000 buzz right now," says Pat Harpell, president of the advertising firm Harpell/Martins & Co. She says that not since 1976, the bicentennial celebration of the independence of the United States, has the marketing of a specific year been so intense.
|
| ||
|---|---|---|
 |
IDG.net home page | |
| PC World home page | ||
| FileWorld find free software fast | ||
| Make your PC work harder with these tips | ||
| Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net | ||
 |
IDG.net's desktop PC page | |
| IDG.net's portable PC page | ||
| IDG.net's Windows software page | ||
| IDG.net's personal news page | ||
| Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you | ||
| Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletter for computer geniuses(& newbies) | ||
|
Search IDG.net in 12 languages | ||
| News Radio | ||
 |
Fusion audio primers | |
|
|
Computerworld Minute | |
The Y2K name bug
But "2000" now offers some complicated marketing challenges.
Just ask Gateway, which almost began the new millennium outdated.
Gateway dropped the "2000" from its name last April. While other companies were trying to capitalize on the hoopla over the new millennium, the nation's second largest direct seller of personal computers streamlined its name.
Other companies face another big issue, says Harpell. "There are so many firms selling Year 2000 [bug] fixes, a tech company that isn't offering a solution is bound to get drowned out by ones that do."
The Software 2000 saga
In 1981, Robert Pemberton founded Software 2000, a Massachusetts company that makes back office software applications. "At the time we thought it had a futuristic ring," he recalls.
He liked the ring so much he put "2000" in the name of every software title he made: Human Resources 2000, Payroll 2000, and 15 more "2000"-stamped titles.
Pemberton says "2000" was originally meant to bring attention to his software's Y2K compliance. More importantly, it conjured visions of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. "Heck, by 2000 we were supposed to be taking Pan Am flights to the moon," Pemberton says.
|
Eighteen years later, Software 2000 realized it had a problem. It would be a mere three years before the brand "2000" would be obsolete.
And that wasn't the worst of it. Nine out of ten calls to Software 2000 came from people who mistook the firm as a company that fixed Y2K bug problems.
Pemberton realized his company was having a major identity crisis. In April of 1997 Software 2000 changed its name to something far more enduring: Infinium Software.
That old marketing magic
Microsoft has been playing with software version releases based on dates since 1995, when it launched the Windows 95 operating system.
Windows 2000 Professional Edition is scheduled to ship this year. But the Windows 2000 (formerly known as Windows NT 5.0) platform won't exactly be fresh, says Dan Kusnetzky, an analyst at International Data Corporation.
Microsoft is nearly four years late with the full release of its Windows NT platform, Kusnetzky says. To create the illusion of timeliness, Microsoft has decided to call it Windows 2000.
Kusnetzky says that Microsoft is also hoping that this will encourage Windows 98 users to move to a consumer version of Windows 2000. "Why not name it so it sounds like just another upgrade?" he asks. Of course, Windows 2000 is an entirely different beast, requiring 64MB of memory and a 300-MHz processor.
Windows 2000 will have its year in the sun -- at most. "Before you know it, "2000" is going to sound downright old-fashioned," says Harpell.