Some people like to name their vehicles, but I like to name my electronics and vehicles. Maybe it’s because I’ve loved computers since I was a kid, or by giving them a name, I mentally take better care of the devices, I’m not sure. Sean Patterson
I used to name my things as well. I have named my cars and computers for almost two decades. In the past, I have used names from Japanese Anime and science fiction movies. My first car after graduate school was a 1994 Honda Civic EX named Tetsuo. My second car1, a 1994 Acura Integra GS-R I bought pre-owned in 1996, was named Kaneda. Both names are from the same movie, Akira, by Katsuhiro Otomo. That movie left a lasting impression on me.
A colleague of mine named his servers after coffee and cars. He named his low-end servers and workstations French Press, Espresso, Cafe Au Lait, Cappuccino, etc. He named his more powerful servers after American muscle cars such as Mustang, Olds 444, Viper, etc. I started naming my computer, too. My computers were named after characters from the Matrix, such as Morpheus, Neo, Trinity, Dozer, etc. I know. Cheesy, right?
Sometimes, I reused names. The current car, the Honda Accord, is Tetsuo II.
For some reason, I have never named my Macs creatively. I have had several, but they are always just iMac or MacBook. This wasn’t a conscious decision. It's something that just happened. Maybe it’s time to start doing that again. Where shall I start?
- Tetsuo was destroyed in 1996 when a drunk driver ploughed into the rear while I was stopped at a traffic light. ↩
