Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff » MS' Zune no sweet tune in Hebrew

October 18, 2006 | Comments: (0)

MS' Zune no sweet tune in Hebrew

TAGS: Gadgets

Microsoft's iPod killer, Zune, may sound like hip branding to some, but older Hebrew speakers will probably do a second take when they come across the players at Best Buy while shopping for Bar Mitzvah gifts.

The name for the device -- which will take on the Apple iPod when released later this year -- sounds like a vulgarity, specifically the "f" word, in Hebrew, IDG News' Jeremy Kirk reports.

Why do I say it may only offend older Hebrew speakers? Well, heard of fcuk, or French Connection? Microsoft may be going after just the same twist on the new cool in getting warm on the f-word with the youngins.

Kirk reports that the tech industry continually creates goofy product names, er Google, but the companies usually hire branding consultancies to extensively research product names, including translations in other language.

Seems Redmond had a day off on brand name research, but Hebrew linguists are divided over Zune anyway. Tsila Ratner, the head of Hebrew courses in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London, says Zune is an unsuitable name for a product. However, Haggit Inbar-Littas, a 30-year veteran Hebrew teacher with the London Jewish Cultural Center, says while the name is "ridiculous" and close to the bad word, it's unlikely to be mistaken.

Microsoft breaks the controversy down to pronunciation. "While we do acknowledge the similarity in pronunciation to Hebrew zi-yun, that is not the intended meaning of the name Zune," according to a Microsoft statement.

Too late? Is Zune is dead in the water with this oversight? Talk back below.

Posted by Mike Barton on October 18, 2006 02:27 PM

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