Go google yourself Google
by MaxPower
The stories about the letter Google has been sending to journalists telling them to stop using Google as a verb have been rampant recently.
Recap: Last week the Washington Post got a letter from Google saying "don't use the word google as a verb to mean 'web searching'. This is due to patent protection issues where patents could theoretically become void if a word is used to describe an action in everyday occurance (Xerox, Hoover, Saran Wrap et. al. have had issues with this in the past).
This isn't new. I distinctly remembering hearing about this years ago. And when googling (ha!) for a reference I found this recent blogpost which agreed with what I remembered.
Beyond the fact you can't control language "oh yes, I will go and conduct a Google search now", no matter how powerful you are, using google as a verb is gold for the company. If the word is in everyday usage, I doubt someone is going to say "I'm going to go google my boss" and then go to AltaVista
At least they haven't sued anyone which is more than I can say for Apple. Apple, the new evil empire, with their too cool clothes and stormtrooper like design aesthetics has proclaimed you can't use the word "pod", here or here because it "infringes on its iPod brand". I'm all for patent protection but the word pod CAN be used in a sentence without confusing people who like to buy coloured plastic electronics.
Hey you, hand me some pea pods.
pod n. Botany. A dehiscent fruit of a leguminous plant such as the pea. A dry, several-seeded, dehiscent fruit.
Ohhhhhh, THAT kind of pod. I kept trying to plug it into my computer so I would have the privledge of using iTunes.
Cross posted in the R4NT forums