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Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

tamponapp.com

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Re: Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

#51

Post by loumf »

julien_c wrote: post #44
k-mcgrady wrote: post #38

Terrible name, you should definitely change it. It might get you attention and have some shock value at the start but it's going to look stupid eventually (if it doesn't already). Same goes for the logo. I understand it's 'buffer' in French but major companies go out of their way to ensure their product name translates well in the major languages. You should too. Apart from that, it seems like a good product. EDIT: A…

As stated some place else: it's an open source project, so let's just have fun with names! :)

You have a right to name it what you want. If you have goals related to other people using, forking, improving, etc, then this name will make that harder.

For example, in Showing to HN, you probably wanted some frank feedback. Your name is working against that as all you are getting is discussion of the name. If that's what you wanted -- well, mission accomplished.

Re: Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

#52

Post by Johngibb »

greengirl512 wrote: post #26
manuscreationis wrote: post #13

My first thought was "With a name like that, won't people be a little embarrassed to say they're using it?" Then I realized I need to grow up, as I wouldn't have batted an eye if it were called Jock Strap or something inherently male in nature. Bit of a disconnect between the "meaning" of the name and the logo, but again, part of this may boil down to my own level of discomfort/unfamiliarity with products that women…

I'm a woman, and I think this needs to be renamed (and given a new logo, stat). Not because tampons make me uncomfortable, but because it seems like a cheap ploy to get attention, and it makes it more difficult for me to take the app seriously on its own merits.

I'm not a woman, and I agree. It just opens the door for lame, offensive jokes and doesn't have anything to do with the project. There probably was no negative intent, but it should be renamed.

Re: Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

#53

Post by manuscreationis »

MartinCron wrote: post #46
manuscreationis wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like your counter examples were fairly over the top. He didn't name it "Labia" or "Clitoris", he named it after a product that females use for hygienic purposes. I can't really think of a particular brand of male-genital-hygiene products off the top of my head (that aren't also used in other areas, ie: hair trimmers or washes), so I went with something as similar as I could that served a single unique purpose.…

I totally see your point. There aren't any, that I know of, male-specific genital hygiene products. Flowers and butterflies, as cultural concepts, tend to correlate with femininity more than rocketships and monster trucks. I was trying to think of a non-biological example of something that's perfectly OK to use.

"There aren't any, that I know of, male-specific genital hygiene products."

And isn't this the REAL injustice?!

Re: Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

#54

Post by julien_c »

petercooper wrote: post #7

Now I understand what it is, this seems like an interesting project. As a Buffer user, the way it's worded made me think it's an app for Buffer and I couldn't work out what it was adding ;-) (If anyone does want to build an extension for Buffer, I'd love something that let me schedule certain tweets to post on certain dates way off in the future.. but I don't want to sign up to Hootsuite or anything big like that.)

Calling it an open source Buffer app seemed more elegant than calling it an open source Buffer clone :)

Re: Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

#55

Post by loumf »

dkroy wrote: post #41

What is sad is the fact that this is a pretty useful app, yet most of the discussion is about the name. I would like to see more discussion about the app itself, but that could be just me.

Sure, it's useful -- in fact, I really need to schedule tweets, but have been procrastinating in finding one. This post made me do the 3 second google search and I chose http://twuffer.com -- not a great name, but free, easy and has the features I need.

There are a ton of products (free and commercial) that do this -- but only one had a name that made me not even want to find out if it would be useful to me. No comment on this page discussed anything about whether it was good (in fact the non-name comments I see are negative) -- my guess is that, like me, no one is really giving it a serious look.

I think it's legitimate to factor this reaction into your naming strategy.

Re: Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

#56

Post by shimsham »

MartinCron wrote: post #46
manuscreationis wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like your counter examples were fairly over the top. He didn't name it "Labia" or "Clitoris", he named it after a product that females use for hygienic purposes. I can't really think of a particular brand of male-genital-hygiene products off the top of my head (that aren't also used in other areas, ie: hair trimmers or washes), so I went with something as similar as I could that served a single unique purpose.…

I totally see your point. There aren't any, that I know of, male-specific genital hygiene products. Flowers and butterflies, as cultural concepts, tend to correlate with femininity more than rocketships and monster trucks. I was trying to think of a non-biological example of something that's perfectly OK to use.

Male soap. Male wet-wipes.

So, I never got as far as looking at the app cos the name made me shudder at the potential for similar behaviour underneath the surface.

Re: Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

#57

Post by rjknight »

MartinCron wrote: post #21
manuscreationis wrote: post #13

My first thought was "With a name like that, won't people be a little embarrassed to say they're using it?" Then I realized I need to grow up, as I wouldn't have batted an eye if it were called Jock Strap or something inherently male in nature. Bit of a disconnect between the "meaning" of the name and the logo, but again, part of this may boil down to my own level of discomfort/unfamiliarity with products that women…

I wouldn't have batted an eye if it were called Jock Strap or something inherently male in nature Really? I would totally cringe at something called "Jock Strap" or "scrotum" or "foreskin". Tampon isn't just a feminine word like "flower" or "butterfly", it's biological and personal . "Anal Probe" is gender-neutral neutral term that also feels inappropriate because of its personal and biological nature.

Scrotwm is an open source Linux window manager.

I'm struggling to think of too many other examples - "Back Orifice" was a script kiddie tool from about a decade ago, I guess that was a "provocative" name (iirc, it had a plugin system called "buttplugs", but I may have imagined that).

Question to the people who are objecting to the name: would you object to a punk band that called itself "Tampon"? Would you say things like "this will really harm adoption of your product"? If not, what do you consider to be the relevant distinction between open source software and punk music?

Re: Show HN: Tampon - an open source Buffer app

#60

Post by MartinCron »

rjknight wrote: post #57
MartinCron wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't have batted an eye if it were called Jock Strap or something inherently male in nature Really? I would totally cringe at something called "Jock Strap" or "scrotum" or "foreskin". Tampon isn't just a feminine word like "flower" or "butterfly", it's biological and personal . "Anal Probe" is gender-neutral neutral term that also feels inappropriate because of its personal and biological nature.

Scrotwm is an open source Linux window manager. I'm struggling to think of too many other examples - "Back Orifice" was a script kiddie tool from about a decade ago, I guess that was a "provocative" name (iirc, it had a plugin system called "buttplugs", but I may have imagined that). Question to the people who are objecting to the name: would you object to a punk band that called itself "Tampon"? Would you say things…

Tampon is a great name for a punk band. There's an all-mom punk band here in Seattle called "the Kegels" and people love them.

I usually say that people should be as edgy and experimental as they want on their own time. A serious product or workplace should have a different standard of decorum.

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