#WordNerdWednesday
I had to double check this week’s WNW entry with multiple sources before I would believe it. Apparently “Wi-Fi” doesn’t stand for “wireless fidelity.” It doesn’t officially stand for anything.
Brand agency Interbrand came up with Wi-Fi to promote a then-new wireless connection technology called “IEEE 802.11” to non-techies. The public wasn’t likely to know or care who IEEE was. Numbers are also harder to remember than words.
This story proves that the brain abhors a vacuum.
The sense-making part of our mind feels compelled to find meaning in a group of things even if they are totally unrelated. With no coordinated effort, society assumed “Wi-Fi” must stand for something and chose “wireless fidelity” because it’s descriptive and logical.
Thankfully, the name team didn’t try to get too creative.
In the early days of my career we tested potential names for features on AT&T’s then-new VoiP system. One was the ability to record a message and send it to multiple phone numbers at once. (Trust me, it was a big deal back then! ☎️)
The North East US based marketing team called it “Snow Chain” after the string of calls that had to go out when schools declared a snow day back then. Instead of making calls in sequence (a chain) you could do it in parallel.
Before launch we asked potential customers what they would call such a feature. They chose the decidedly less creative but logical name “Record & Send.”
Clarity 1, Cuteness 0. 💡
(For those who do care, IEEE stands for “Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.” It’s the world’s largest association for technology professionals.)
