RUCKSACK Texnology

That's right. We're going with Rucksack after all! This is (mildly) embarrassing. The best of the bad explanations I can offer is, it takes a lot of time to get ready to kill one company and start another one, even very small companies. In the process of doing my company-name research, I failed to notice that 37Signals had, some months ago, released an iPhone app called "Daypack." Sigh. I am pretty sure I could have stuck with Daypack Data and never heard from 37Signals' lawyers. We don't compete at all. But it's okay. While "Daypack" is great as a name for an iPhone app, I always thought it was a bit lightweight for what we do anyway. As I said five weeks ago (" What's in a name? "), the connotations of  rucksack  are much sturdier. That's a better fit with our mission. We don't just build databases you can carry your lunch in, we build databases that will carry everything you need to succeed in battle. So to speak. A...

Shakespeare's Juliet says, What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Well, okay, if you are just talking about smell. But "rose" sounds a lot better than phlegm.  And when you name a company, you have to think about these things. We've ended up with a name — "Daypack Data" — that we think smells pretty sweet, and sounds good, too. But the final name didn't just pop into my head. About a year ago, when I started thinking about a name for my new company, I knew I wanted something that conveyed the idea that we build (relatively) compact, light-weight systems for small businesses. Since I like to hike, I fairly quickly started thinking about hiking-related names. . "Backpack" One of my first ideas was "Backpack Data" or perhaps "Backpack Data Tools." One problem with Backpack is that it's a very  common word. Students from kindergarten through graduate school wear ba...