A Name Change
This is some big news for us. We are planning to change the name of Democracy Player.
We chose the name ‘Democracy’ almost two years ago when we were first setting up PCF. We knew it was an ambitious name, but we thought that it made a clear statement about how important it is that an open internet TV platform is for our culture.
Our early Mac beta versions of Democracy Player were called ‘DTV’– we didn’t think that we could be ‘Democracy’ until we had something substantial to offer. When we released version 0.8 for Mac and Windows one year ago, we called it Democracy Player. In the weeks before that release, we agonized over the name. It was risky and unusual and we were both excited about it and worried. Cory Doctorow, who’s on our Board of Directors, tried to talk us out of it. And we take his advice very seriously. But we still felt compelled by the name and we decided to go for it.
And, even though I’m about to explain why we need to change it, I’m glad we’ve had this name for the past year. It’s funny that a name like ‘Democracy’ can become a name for software– I think it turned out to be less odd than we expected. When people hear a name, they tend to accept it. And it helped us assert our mission clearly: free, open, and dedicated to democratizing video online. I think conveying that mission so strongly was crucial for us.
But the name also confused a huge number of potential users. In all our debates about whether you could call something ‘Democracy’ and how people would react to the name, we hadn’t realized that so many people would simply assume that the software was for politicians and videos about politics. We hear this response over and over, and it’s a real limitation to our user base.
So we’re changing the name to Miro.
We’ll working on a new icon / logo and a new website, which will be at getmiro.com.
The name change will happen over the next month or two (now would be a good time to let us know if the word ‘miro’ means something bad in any languages). Our next release will probably still be called Democracy Player, but the one after that will be Miro. And the release after that will likely be Miro 1.0.
Also: TIME Magazine has a nice mention of us on p. 62 of their current issue (dated march 19).
March 12th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Miro is an anagram of iRom
It also means nothing
SpewHawk suggest high speed mess
iTV2HDD suggest a vodcast catcher
BFH could be BigFatHog, something written in python well past the mock-up stage
SpewHawk is my favourite
Thank
March 12th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
In french slang, miro means blind…
I don’t think it’s very well known, and isn’t really widespread so I think it’s okay.
Anyway, Democracy1.0 or Miro1.0 or DTV1.0 will rock. Period. Keep up the good work !
March 12th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I still prefer Democracy Player. Miro does not mean anything to me - it just sounds like one of those common proprietary application names: short, different, and meaningless.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I’ve just submitted this to Digg:
http://digg.com/software/Democracy_Player_changes_name_to_Miro
Miro is an Australian software company:
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Miro_backflips_on_Mambo_copyright/0,130061733,139208129,00.htm
March 12th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
SPEWHAWK!!!! I love it
SpewHawk sPewhAUk SpEWHauK SPEWhauk spewHAUK! SpewHawk sPewhAUk SpEWHauK SPEWhauk spewHAUK! SpewHawk sPewhAUk SpEWHauK SPEWhauk spewHAUK! SpewHawk sPewhAUk SpEWHauK SPEWhauk spewHAUK!
spewhauk.
love it. no Miro.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
SpewHawk: difficult pronunciation in the other languages (French, …)
Miro: good name, (like the Spanish painter, Joan Miro), but in French slang, miro is a person with myopia; “funny” for a Video Player.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
‘Miro’ also means “I see” in Spanish.
Keep it up.
March 12th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Actually, it means “I look”, in Spanish - so even better.
March 12th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
You can’t do that because Miro is a german company http://www.miro.com/
March 12th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
I personally liked “Democracy.” Miro sounds like a Web 2.0 company, leaves sort of a bad taste in my mouth.
Also, I knew I had heard the name before, in a bad light…turns out it was the company that screwed up Mambo (thus creating Joomla). Probably not a problem for most people, but I understood why you named the application Democracy. Your aim seems to be to inform more than entertain, but still do both.
March 12th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
While I can appreciate the confusion caused by the ‘Democracy’ name, I’m not sure if Miro is appropriately eyecatching. Democracy stood out, it grabbed your attention, it was bold and idiosyncratic. I think Miro is kind of bland, though I can’t think of a better replacement off the top of my head. I don’t think Miro is as evocative as it could be or representative of the application’s purpose or use.
Why change the icon as well? For the total rebranding effect?
March 12th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
A lot of video jocks will be reminded of early video capture boards; Miro DC30 et al. (from the german company metioned in comments I believe they were bought out by pinnacle, CBW. . . )
Honestly, I don’t think the problem is the existing name, and these users who thought you guys were internet c-span or what ever are just a convenient scapegoat for the product not performing as well as would be liked. A strategic partnership will be required to get the product moving as desired.
The name is really irrelevant, Democracy would do just as well as many others. This “confusion” argument sounds like a bit of board room aping. JMO. . .
March 12th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Miro does sound web2.0-ish to me. I don’t like it.
Are the idiots who couldn’t figure out that Democracy wasn’t just for political vids the kind of user you want anyway?
Boo on the name change!
March 12th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
For Your information, Miro means “Look” in Japanese.
Very understandable and direct name for our peoplel.
Thanks.
March 12th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I like it. It reminds me of Adium, Colloquy, etc.
March 12th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
I’m sorry, but I think Miro is a boring, almost cliche, name. First of all, it doesn’t give a person who doesn’t know what it is any clue as to what it might be. Democracy Player made it clear that the application was an ‘open’ content player.
Miro is also too similar a name to Mira, the popular Apple Remote application.
As a huge fan of Democracy Player, and a reviewer of it, I beg you to reconsider. You have developed a brand name, so to say. To throw it away now would be silly.
March 12th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Nick and Holmes,
I’d love to get caught up and hear if you guys are stil in touch with anyone from the class.
I just wanted to say hi. About the name I have no opinion. I was just looking up people from the Academy and came across this site. I knew about Downhill battle but hadn’t heard of this one yet. Just wanted to say hi, and that I’m back in the Worcester area. Feel free to send me an email
Alex
March 12th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I personally do not understand why software HAS to have a short and odd name, if that be the case. With that said, in order to try and make the software name absolutely clear to people all over the world, here are some suggestions offered simply as raw starting ideas so that others can add to them if the overall general idea is even worth considering. I think the software name should always be presented in a long version when talking about it in words and on paper and packaging, leading into the short version, as these very rough samples show:
* Free Video Software — FVS (or whatever)
* Free 21st Century Video Software — F21CVS or F21stCVS (or whatever)
* Free Video Software For Humanity — FVSFH (or whatever)
* Humanity’s Free Video Software — HFVS (or whatever)
* Free Open And Democratic Video Online — FOADVO or FODVO (or whatever)
* Free We The People Video Software — FWTPVS (or whatever)
* Free Video Software Developed By Humanity — FVSDBH (or whatever)
* Free Online Video Software Created By And For The People —- FOVSCBAFTP (or whatever)
* The Worldwide Free Online Video Software —- TWFOVS (or whatever)
* The We The People Free Online Video Software —- TWTPFOVS (or whatever)
* Free Online Video Software Developed By We The People —- FOVSDBWTP (or whatever)
*
* …..and so on and on with all kinds of possible suggestions that everyone can think of.
March 12th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Definitely Democracy! (so far). It conveys a feel of reaching out, accessability, choice and perhaps mainstream youth culture of today (which is what makes the name work). Yes there are political connotations but this only helps emphasise the above.
Maybe democracy is spelt differently??? (although this may only open another can of worms).
March 12th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Miro is a Russian name. It’s the abbreviated form of Miroslav, which, according to a baby name web site, means “peaceful glory.”
March 12th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Hi everyone, thanks for all the comments– I think this is the most I’ve ever gotten so quickly on a post. I’m glad at a lot of you like the name and I totally understand those of you that think it’s too boring / web 2.0. But I still think it’s a good move for us– I have just talked to so many people that got confused by the name and didn’t think the software was something that applied to them. That’s a big problem– if we’re going to change the way video is done online, we need to reach as many folks as we can.
And I don’t actually think it’s a very web 2.0 name. It’s short and and it doesn’t have a pun or a misspelling or anything else classicaly web 2.0 as I understand it. There’s lots of similar short names that came way before the web– Nike, Audi, Ford, Pepsi, Sony, etc.
Also, I think Miro works well as a more general brand, we can use it as a prefix to various projects (for example, the ‘channel guide’ could become the ‘miro guide’).
Lastly, we’ve been talking about naming our development platform (the system we’ve designed to create a cross-platform app) ‘Democracy’, so that we can keep the name in the family and represent for where we started.
But don’t stop praising or criticizing the name, it’s never to late to talk us into it or out of it.
March 12th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
first! no, really!
good luck with the change, guys!
March 13th, 2007 at 2:00 am
This news has prompted me to write a blog entry on product naming, and especially how it applies to software. It has been food for thought — literally. Please check it out here:
http://raygunrobot.com/archives/On-Democracy-Player-Whats-in-a-name
It’s important to note that “miro” (”mee-ro”) does indeed mean “look” in Japanese, but it’s a somewhat rude imperative (command); as in “look, dammit!” In polite company, “mitte” (”mee-tay”) would be the way to say it.
March 13th, 2007 at 2:33 am
It’s a good name change - for the reasons you mention, and the name you’ve decided on. Besides, you ‘grow into’ any name over a period of time. Congratulations, keep on with the good work!
March 13th, 2007 at 2:39 am
Hmmmm…
Democracy Player - indicative name, tells you exactly what it is, implies freedom of choice
Miro - nonsensical name, tells you diddly squat, implies that it is now being aimed at a group of people who are not able to deal with words of more than four letters
Thumbs down - Miro sux
March 13th, 2007 at 2:48 am
I use a program called Mira on my Mac which lets me do great stuff with the remote. So Miro sounds very much like Mira in my ears. Not a bad name, just very similar to another program I use.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:10 am
This is silly. The program is called Democracy. Get over it.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:15 am
Hello from Japan.
I am surprised by your announcement and … what a coincidence!
“Miro” may mean “Do watch!” in Japan as “miro” is an imperative form of its original form of verb “miru”, that is, watch (original) - Do watch (imperative) in English and miru (original) - miro (imperative) in Japan.
That’s why “MiroTV” may sound “Watch TV!” for Japanese users from a view of play on words by parallelism. So naming “Miro” might be such a funny and interesting coincidental factor for us, I believe.
Anyway I’d like “Miro” as well as “Democracy player” and its ambitious and idealistic visions of yours.
Thanks.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:47 am
He im Brasil miro means something like “to focus, to point”.
I still prefer Democracy Player… And it´s relataded with the changes in the politics culture of television law…
Democracy will change the way to watch Television, and Television is a great politic tools…. so, why change the name?
March 13th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
What!?!? But… Miro? That’s not as cool as Democracy. The other day on the phone with my Step-Dad he asked me “what, what does Google do? I’ve never used it.” There will always be confusion with people.
*Sigh*
I think even if you change it to Miro… I will always call it Democracy. Democracy player does what it’s name implies to online media. Miro… doesn’t imply anything.
March 13th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Personally, I hated it when you changed it from DTV to Democracy. My recommendation would be to go back. It would still reflect your “Democratic TV” ambitions, yet it has the magic “TV” in the name that will make the uninitiated think “TV player for my computer”. Fwiw, I think you are far more likely to have people going “Miro, what the hell is that?” than you ever did for “Democracy”.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
The problem with DTV is that it also stands for Digital Television, which complicates things and makes for a very crowded google search.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Also, people might say ‘What the hell is that?’ about Miro, but they’ll get an answer. People are used to hearing new brands / names / and attaching a meaning. With Democracy, people are saying ‘That doesn’t apply to me’, which seems a lot worse.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Hey, Miro, that’s me!
I like my name and i don’t mind sharing it.
No, in the Netherlands Miro is not a common name. It was made up by my father and mother, they joined their first names.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Personally I think it is a mistake to change the name. There are other ways to deal with the problem you mentioned, like using a header under your banner or in your advirtising graphic with something like:
Democracy Player
News, Entertainment, The World
Or something equally prolific, as is befitting your software. To bad, it really is unique. I do identify with your brand. So do a lot of people, and that is not to be taken lightly. Good luck!
March 14th, 2007 at 12:51 am
I liked Democracy… Why another name change?
March 14th, 2007 at 1:37 am
I do believe having a proper name is important. But no matter what name you decide to go with I think you guys are at a point where this next change should be the last one.
It is evident that you have a solid user base. And one thing you do not want to do is start alienating those users with constant changes to the “superficial” aspects of your software. People in general, when they find something they like, expect a certain reliability from it. We want to know that the people behind our favorite stuff are working on making it better for us, and not “wasting” time on matters we don’t care about.
If you think this name change will make the software better, then by all means please do it. I think you should incorporate some of the suggestions listed here. Simply adding “Internet Video Aggregator” will explain it’s base function. Everyone knows what the Internet video is. When it comes to the issue of people thinking that it’s only for political video, that is easily solved by a change in the marketing.
If you want the general thought of DTV to change from “political, not for me” to “open source internet video player”. Then you need to change the order of the message.
Right now the first point that comes across when talking about or explaining what Democracy Player is the political aspect, the fight against the big media/corporate control, the free press, citizen journalism, etc. I agree with it, open source all the way. Then it is explained how it does that, by enabling the people to view and create the media they want, when where and how they want it.
Simply market the player as an internet video aggregator. Show off it’s abilities, compare it to what is out there, and what the competition is. After that is in the people’s heads, then explain your true mission. The idea that fuels the fire of this software, and it creators. People love things that makes their lives easier and enjoyable. Make that the focus of the marketing. Let the freedom, and democracy that is the foundation of the software be a guiding light.
March 14th, 2007 at 3:05 am
In English Miro sounds nothing like what the program does. It’s closest to “mirror”, which is really a dull image. If the majority of your market are English speakers, which from the channel guide it seems they are, then this isn’t good.
If you’re trying to go web 2.0 ish how about “WikiTikiTV”? It’s a play on the Rudyard Kipling story “Riki Tiki Tavi” means you can use a mongoose as a logo, which would be very cool. Also of course related to WikiWikiWeb, which it is in a way. Wiki being Hawaiian for quick, Tiki is Hawaiian for “Image”. And a Tiki would make a great logo too of course.
March 14th, 2007 at 11:38 am
MIRO?
ah so it’s just about art & artists then… not for me I’m into politics, now where’s that Democracy Player thing gone????
;->
Time for RON I think (Re-Open Naming)
March 14th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I say we ask a Ninja. he would probably know. And thanks to democracy, I’ve learned quite a bit about ninjas. Including how to hug them.
Main thing that would make me think anything of “miro” would be that someone may get it confused with “nero” (CD/dvd burning app)..But i’m pretty sure if they’re downloading “Miro”, they probably know what “Nero” is.
I think i just made a tounge twister.
Adios
March 14th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Congratulations on the name change. Though I think there is a lot of politics of the best kind involved in creating an open platform for media across the spectrum (on which congratulations again), I also thought from the beggining that calling it Democracy Player was a suicidal move.
Being Spanish I find the name Miro perfectly descriptive, and since from someone’s previous comment it seems to mean the same in Japanese… well, it’s all good!
March 15th, 2007 at 9:19 am
That the new name means something in Japanese is meaninglessness after the fact. “Miro” is an empty, meaningless, made-up word to most people.
So is “Sony”, but Sony is successful because of peerless quality….. Nothing else…
I immediately understood what Democracy Player was when I first saw it - and people who have time to be “confused” without even LOOKING at the thing don’t deserve to drive the project.
Are you suggesting “Miro” will communicate more information?
Instead of worrying about non-issues, worry about functionality; the hangs, and crashing on errors. Detecting damaged files would be a good starting point…
I have designed and sold software since 1981, some of it household words now, and I can tell you if you make Democracy Player work like, say, Apple Quicktime; any “confusion” about the name will take care of itself.
Unless the bugs are fixed and a solid product created calling it “Free Money Here” will not make it more widely used….
Democracy Player is a great name, and a great idea - I hope you realize where the priorities are, and concentrate on what will make Democracy Player a success, and it ain’t about what you call it!
I suspect there is a political angle to this you are not mentioning, and it would be sad if this were the case and the name change goes ahead.
BTW, you should check with the folks at Mirro Corp. to head off an inevitable trademark action before moving forward; but you have probably covered this base already…
In my mind, Miro makes me think of really nice cooking gear, since they have been around for many decades.
Reconsider.
March 16th, 2007 at 4:14 am
If I have a vote, I vote AGAINST “Miro” as it is a trademark.
So, what do I suggest?
- Takahe - a bird
- Jhone - a play on John or Joan (Miro)
- Murrow - a journalist
- Playicity - a made-up word with 0 google hits
- Tolos
- Soupault - a surrealist
- FireWhale
- FireBox
- FirePelican
March 16th, 2007 at 8:48 am
This sounds like the problems that occurred after Mozilla changed its new browser from Firebird to Firefox. (which lex Ein just eluded to).
There were a lot of people mad, enough for someone to create the extension “Firesomething” to allow you to rename your browser to whatever you wanted.
Picking a name is tough. It sounds good to me, if you don’t have any legal issues. We have been very happy recommending Democracy Player to get and play our feature-length drama, Cactuses, and will continue to do so with it being called Miro.
Heck, now you can have Miro-enabled flat panel TVs!
“Miro, Miro, on the wall. Who has the greatest content of them all?”
March 16th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Your search for a relevant name is intriguing.
If you mission is to be free, open, and dedicated to democratizing video online, then the name VIDEO POPULUS
might do.
These are both Latin words, with common application in the English language. With some interpretative license this name could variously suggest:
“The people’s video”;
“As we see it, say the people”;
“The people’s view”; or
“A popular video”.
MIRO is a poor name - if only because the terminology - “smoke and mirrors” comes to mind.
March 16th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Hey, how about a domain name that is donated from the community? i have a few I am willing to donate because I just love dp so much: tapefish.com, tapestorm.com, tapevine.com
March 17th, 2007 at 3:24 am
Miro… miro.. mh..
I don’t feel the power of “Democracy Player” name..
I think if the first time i downloaded the big, heavy, buggy player, is name was “Miro”, I simply removed it without come back, without give him a second opportunity.
March 17th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Maybe the first release of Miro will work with Ubuntu Feisty, as the current version will not.
March 18th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Nomenclature is serious business indeed.
When you NAME something or someone it often
has very profound and even mystical consequence
as a result.
So rushing to any kind of judgment in this matter
is truly a bad idea indeed.
Think about it carefully instead…for what you
are about to do lives beyond the mere moment and
it can permanently undermine or bolster the intent
of all your endeavors everafter!
MIRO is not a name worthy of your true intents and
purposes…in my opinion. It does not reflect the
spirit nor the dedication of your enterprise.
Instead…methinks something on the order of
TRIBUNAL, TRIBE, SCRIBE, V-SCRIBE
or prehaps even
MERC-TV
(short for Mercury…the messenger)
would suffice…considering the sincerity and the
serious democratic intent of your mission.
In any event…MIRO-TV is woefully inadequate!
Good Luck in all that you endeavor!
March 18th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Note: VScribe TV has zero Google hits
March 18th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Hi.
Miro is a beautiful name, but I prefer a meaningful one, moreover giving the fact that the current one is. I suggest “ChoicePlayer” or “ChoiceTV”: They seem not to be used for anything, they suggest the mission and main benefit of the program, and they don’t have the “politic” misinterpretation.(”YourPlayer” or “YourTV” came also to my mind, but they are in use)
I really wait for “ChoicePlayer 1.0″
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Help. Is it just on my computer, or is this copy of the below comment from 5 days ago, number 51, the last one that I see listed, the same last one that everyone else sees? I ask this because I keep seeing the number of comments constantly increasing in a very big way on the other page, the one that I click on to get to this page, and which is now up to number 203. Is there a glitch on the Democracy web site here? Is it because all those unposted comments were trash spam?
——-
51.
Alejo Becerra Díaz Says:
March 18th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Hi.
Miro is a beautiful name, but I prefer a meaningful one, moreover giving the fact that the current one is. I suggest “ChoicePlayer” or “ChoiceTV”: They seem not to be used for anything, they suggest the mission and main benefit of the program, and they don’t have the “politic” misinterpretation.(”YourPlayer” or “YourTV” came also to my mind, but they are in use)
I really wait for “ChoicePlayer 1.0?
——-
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
John– I’m not sure what’s going on. I think the total comments count might include trackbacks, which we aren’t displaying…
March 24th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Personally I prefer Democracy. Kind of like Apple Computer — the familiar name grabs you and attaches new meaning.
In Korean, ‘miro’ is the word for a maze or labyrinth.
March 28th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
I really liked what these guys were doing. It was going to stick it to the media hogs that have lowered the quality of life and have totally subverted the news corner of the democratic checks and balances system.
I don’t use democracy player to watch Democracy Now, but rather manually start the download with bitcomet (awesomely fast) which I can totally control rather than be stuck with some torrent client with its controls all hidden.
And then later I just watch it with VLC, again where I have full control.
I was going to subscribe just to support them and because they truely are asking for just chump-change. Skipping just a very few of the morning muffins (that my waist doesn’t need) with my coffee each month more than pays the subscription.
But then I discovered their new “name”.
Puke! I though that was the brand name of some inferior aluminum kitchenware sold when I was a child 60+ years ago.
And NOT what I want on a t-shirt.
A really well done Democracy Player shirt would still be of considerable interest.
Also, I’m pretty sure they should NOT be suggesting deducting the WHOLE contribution if there is a T-SHIRT involved. At least the wholesale cost needs to be subtracted before declaring the “contribution”.
If someone wants to be stupid on their own, that is on their head, but this organization should NOT be making such suggestions.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:19 am
hey guys, what does it say about your idea of democracy if you just make such a big decision about the name of your excellent software, and then ignore the protest of so many users?
I think this is a huge mistake. It’s true that “Democracy” leads to lots of confusion. But why not just call it DTV or some abbreviation to avoid the confusion? To go from “Democracy” to “Miro” is really bad, because it’s not a natural evolution at all. You’re going from one extreme to another (i.e. “democracy”: co-opting a very common positively connotated word that expresses the main idea behind your software, to give it a new meaning ; Miro: taking a completely meaningless word and associating it with already existing software)…. why? are you scared that the likes of youtube are taking over too quickly and that you need to sell out to marketing culture? Just have a bit of patience and stick with your initial ideas, because they are right.
April 7th, 2007 at 7:40 am
Just thinking aloud here.
Miro doesn’t make an impression on me. It is meaningless and people won’t know how to pronounce it.
Just thinking about names that do grab me in the case of other software.
1. Firefox. Why? Because fire conjures up an image of dynamism, speed and activism (fiery). And aliteration is always a good thing in a double-worded name. The name of the film company name Miramax is another example as is the audio editor Adobe Audition. Ditto rhymes.
2. Nero. Because it is a good historic and graphic name for a CD-burning programme.
3. A name that has some historic connection with the origins of film would be appropriate. Something Chaplinesque perhaps?
4. In Spanish, the word “mira!” is the imperative mood of the verb “mirar” (meaning “to look”). A translation of mira! would be: look! This is not necessarily a command, but can express surprise, amazement and wonder also. You probably know that in Spanish there is an (upside down) exclamation mark before the word as well after. Mira might work better than miro because the final letter “a” sort of rhymes with -er in “player”. So, I’m thinking of any of the following:
Mira
Mira Player
Mira! Player
MiraPlayer
Mira!Player
MiraPlayer!
April 7th, 2007 at 8:52 am
One final thought. As I said earlier, the Spanish word imperative mood word “mira” should have an inverted exclamation mark before it and a non-inverted one after it. Thus in Spanish the word “look!” is ¡Mira!
After I wrote the above post, I was reading an article about iPods and it occurred to me that the inverted initial Spanish exclamation mark looks a little like the English letter “i” and this similarity could be made use of. It could be used as a kind of punctuation pun. So, I give you “iMira!”
April 16th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Kia ora
What has the world come to when people say democracy is for politicans and activists and not for them? It speaks of a culture where politics (as well as arts and culture) are products we passively consumer rather than processes we actively participate in. Is this not the very thing Democracy Player has set out to help change? Why are you giving up before even reaching your first stable milestone release?
Personally I’d like to see people struggling to defend and realise the original meaning of the word ‘democracy’ - government of the people, by the people, for the people. I think it’s damn sad that the PCF too are willing to hand over the word to the neo-cons and let it mean ‘a system of government imposed by an elite, by military force if necessary’.
I agree with the comments that Miro is meaningless. Even Mirror would be better (a reflection of people’s creativity?). Personally I’d be keen on AnarchyTV but there’s already a movie called that and I know the word anarchy and its proponents have their own PR issues
Either way keep up the great work on the application, I can’t wait for a stable 1.0 release.
Kia kaha
Strypey
CreativeCommons Aotearoa
April 21st, 2007 at 6:42 pm
I am troubled and have conflicting opinions on this move. On one side, I have seen the effects of the name myself (I tried telling of Democracy to a Swedish girl, who for our purposes is sufficiently named by the initials VM. The following was the echange):
jaimeastorga2000: speaking of software
jaimeastorga2000: did I ever tell you about Democracy?
- VM. Go go go M: ^_^;
jaimeastorga2000: It’s awesome
- VM. Go go go M: god
- VM. Go go go M: the politic place?
- VM. Go go go M: No no no
jaimeastorga2000: (that’s the only time you will ever hear me say democracy is awesome)
jaimeastorga2000: …
- VM. Go go go M: do not pull me into politics
jaimeastorga2000: …
jaimeastorga2000: GOD DAMN
jaimeastorga2000: THEY WERE RIGHT
jaimeastorga2000: THEY DO NEED TO CHANGE THE NAME
- VM. Go go go M: XDD
jaimeastorga2000: I was against it
jaimeastorga2000: but after seeing your reaction
jaimeastorga2000: that’s the same reason they are changing it
jaimeastorga2000: ffs XD
On the other hand, Miro is a word devoid of meaning. This in itself is not a problem; services such as Yahoo and Google have, with names which make little sense, have become immensely popular among the populace. However, I am worried about the compromising of Democracy’s values… specially when I believe no such compromise need take place.
I am a practical person, and I would not oppose a name change necessary for to ensure the survival of the project. However, as mentioned above, products with names that didn’t sound so well have expanded to a user base of millions, through the offering of free, simple, good services (Yahoo being a web portal with several services and Google with a GREAT web and news searcher which would later expand to become much more) and word of mouth. So too, do I believe Democracy can rise above its name, and, with a sufficiently strong product, be able to one day, its fame already spread across the globe, take pride in its name and not hide it in shame as it does today.
I urge the Participatory Culture Foundation to think about this. If after release 1.0 and massive advertisement the campaigns fail, one can always still change the name. At this rate, it is too early to tell if that is the problem. Remember that this is a change not easily reversible, and think that, while it may give you a temporary edge, if Democracy were to, in the end, achieve the same goal, in one scenario it shall have a name symbolic of what it has done, and in the other it shall merely achieve this goal minimally faster at the expense of a generic name to which it shall have sold, like a prostitute, its integrity.
For to change the name would be to buy into what opponents of democracy oftentimes argue for; that democracy is a weak and pathetic system of government based on the fact the people, ignorant beasts, can easily be swayed by a mere twinkle of words and euphemisms, and therefore, in their inability to think, must, like sheep, be led by the elite who are smarter and more educated than they, even if it be to slaughter.
I ask you, now, with the world as witness, is this the kind to convey? Or perhaps you assume, then, that the people, who have not had the wits about them to care about what’s behind the product’s name, shall also not be smart enough to care about that?
May 14th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
I’m glad you changed your name, Democracy (Miro).
I always found the claiming of this space “Democracy” for yourselves to be an embarrassing American-style self-aggrandisement. For a US-based organisation to be bandying this word about reminds me of US presidents’ use of the word Freedom. Ewwww!
Miro is ok, it will do fine. It doesn’t make me cringe. I hope you don’t have any trademark issues or conflicts with other “Miro”s as is perhaps indicated above.
Of course, this name issue is separate to the software itself - which is truly wonderful, and indeed democratic. Small “d” democratic. Not “Democracy”, not “Democrat”, not a brand, but a concept.
Keep up the good work, it is really appreciated. I hope this name problem goes away for you soon, but it doesn’t detract from the great software you have produced or make me want to use it any less.
May 14th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
There are a lot of pictures of Joan Miró (see wikipedia).
but i also warn you about the display firm in germany http://www.miro.de
hmmm.
whats about iPicture? or iNews (merde, Avid newsroom software)
perhaps “iKnew”?
also i want to ask, if there is a project for an democracy-box?
in my opinion it is crucial to get all thet movies on to a Television screen! and watch them in the living room on the settee….
berlin greeting…
ps. how can we promote the word in europe?
May 16th, 2007 at 2:53 am
MIRO is definetly a great name…
in so many language it has to do with lookin at sumthin or watching and furthermore everybody relates it to ARTS cáuse of the great painter joan miro.
take it!
May 30th, 2007 at 4:16 am
[…] Die Mozilla Foundation, die auch hinter dem FireFox-Browser steckt, unterstützt das Projekt finanziell. Ferner soll der Democracy Player auch einen neuen Namen erhalten. Künftig wird der Democracy Player auf den Namen Miro hören. […]
June 5th, 2007 at 11:33 am
[…] From Democracy to Giro: the video player change name. [source] […]
June 9th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Why not democratically decide what the name has to be like using a survey or poll ?
I liked democracy-player, and its the name that caught my attention, unlike the 100s of other software that come
up with weird sounding names.
June 18th, 2007 at 8:19 am
[…] No, not democracy the concept. Democracy the video aggregator and player. While I do actually like the name, the developers will be rebranding their next iteration as Miro. Anyhow, CNET has posted a 2 minute video overview worth checking out. (Quicker and cleaner than an install.) […]
July 9th, 2007 at 9:02 am
I think miro is great name, espexially as I know now what it means in Spanish and French.
July 16th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
[…] Die “Open Source Internet TV Platform” Democracy wird mit der Version 1.0 Ihren wunderbar bezeichnenden Namen gegen den unbezeichnenden Namen Miro tauschen. […]
July 18th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
I hate the name change. Why not give democracy a chance and wait until the 1.0 release. I’ve installed it a few times only to rip it out of my system because it didn’t behave so very well, not because I was confused by the name. It was the name that got me interested in the first place. I was just waiting for a strong stable release.
Democracy means something. Miro… just doesn’t. I’m concerned by two things. We’ve been told the name was changed because (a few) people were confused, but we were never told why they choose Miro… was it just a random decision, scrabble tiles drawn from a hat? Secondly, the user community was never consulted. Shouldn’t it have been? After all, you’re all so very interested in opening up media and giving users’ control.
We need Democracy.
July 20th, 2007 at 1:29 am
preferred the democracy name and logo.
oh well, a rose by any other name.
substance of the program is what matters.
the new logo looks like a mutated m&m candy.
liked baby.
have democracy on one machine and miro on another.
August 9th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
[…] it was called DTV, then Democracy Player, and now it is Miro. Whatever you call it, the Mozilla-based, cross-platform, open source video player is […]
August 14th, 2007 at 2:11 am
[…] Aug, 2007 Newsforge First it was called DTV, then Democracy Player, and now it is Miro. Whatever you call it, the Mozilla-based, cross-platform, open source video player is […]
August 17th, 2007 at 6:56 am
rocket spanish…
Spanish is important and it is fun too….
August 17th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Spanish is very important… take a look to this new Spanish beta project that applies artificial intelligence to video and TV content in order to provide a relevant media experience to users.. (DNAstre
Those kind of projects will definitively change the way we consume television.
August 17th, 2007 at 8:13 am
sorru the link is http://www.dnastream.tv …