Ratings the Names of Tablet Computers

January 7, 2012
(updated March 27, 2012)
Tablet manufacturers are tripping over themselves in an effort to distinguish their products from their competitors.  One key tool to drive that differentiation is the name of the tablet.  On the eve of the 2012 CES, when dozens of new tablet computers will be introduced, The Tab Farm has analyzed and ranked the names of more than a dozen tablets.  Here they are ranked from the best to the worst.

  1.  Apple iPad.  Yep, it’s a pad alright.  A big electronic pad.  How can this not be the hands-down best name of a tablet computer?  Using the lower case “i” is consistent with Apple’s other mega-products, the iPod and the iPhone.  iPad has been embraced so quickly and warmly by the public that the word is almost synonymous with tablet computer.  Those folks in Cupertino are not just superb designers, they know a thing or two about marketing.  (March 27, 2012 update:  We think Apple should have named it the iTab.  That would have been a grand slam.)
  2. Motorola Xoom.  Clever….assuming you’re pronouncing it Zoom and not ex-zoom.  It really expresses the pinch feature of the device (you can zoom in and out) and the use of the letter “X” gives it a unique, sexy flavoring.  Catchy and cool.
  3. Dell Streak.  Energetic and positive.  However, the catchy name couldn’t save the Streak from its fate.
  4. Amazon Kindle Fire. Solid effort.  We like keeping the Kindle branding.  Fire works although we can see the headlines if poor sales drive reduced prices (“Fire Sale” or “Consumers Pour Cold Water on Kindle’s Fire”)
  5. Blackberry Playbook.  No RIM-shot here.  This is a solid (but not sexy) choice for the name of a tablet.  RIM gets points for using the words play and book. 
  6. Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet.  Right down the middle of the fairway.  The cap letters for Nook….uh….NOOK…still bother us but this name will catch on with consumers.
  7. Samsung Galaxy Tab.  So do we call this product the Galaxy?  Or do we call it the Tab?  Giving a product two names seems a bit strange, although there’s nothing wrong with either name.  Galaxy connotes big and celestial, perhaps signaling Samsung’s ambitions in the tablet arena.  Tab is snappy but perhaps too generic.
  8. HP TouchPad.  Memo to HP:  didn’t you see that someone already used Pad in a tablet product name?  Why didn’t you just call this the Me2Pad?  The use of the word Touch is a nice touch.
  9. Toshiba Thrive.  Swing and a miss.  The word thrive, while powerful, doesn’t seem like a fit for a tablet computer. What in the world does thriving have to do with tablet use?  It’s a good name for an Indy rock band, though.
  10. Lenovo IdeaPad.  Memo to Lenovo:  didn’t you see that two companies already used Pad in a tablet product name?  But the three-syllable word idea doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.
  11. T-Mobile G-Slate.  Gosh, what were they thinking with this name?  It’s not unpronounceable (see below), but the name of the G-Slate deserves a D for dumb.
  12. Acer Iconia.  Acer gets a point for trying to be clever with a made-up name, but to what purpose?  The word sounds like a small village in Eastern Europe.
  13. Vizio tablet.  By far the most boring name for a tablet.
  14. Sony Tablet S.  We’re confused.  What does the “S” stand for?  Sony?  Why not the “T” for tablet?
  15. Archos Arnova 8.  Sounds like a planet in a faraway constellation.  And was Archos Arnova 7 already taken?
  16. ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. This name gets an F.  Or should we say an Fff?
  17. The new iPad.  Or should we say New iPad?  Just plain confusing.  In six months, do we drop  the word “new.”  And what happens when the next iPad comes out.  Is it the New New iPad or the Next iPad? 

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