So, Microsoft has finally announced that the SkyDrive cloud storage product line is to be renamed OneDrive. This isn't as a result of disappointing user take up leading to a re-branding exercise, it's much more daft than that. Six months ago a judge in a UK court ruled that Microsoft had to drop the name after 17 people contacted BskyB, which owns the Sky TV brand, thinking it also owned SkyDrive.
This despite the fact that if those 17 hard of thinking folk had looked at the website they might just have noticed the Microsoft branding. This despite the fact that if the hard of thinking judge had thought about it he might have realised that 17 people does not "a likelihood of confusion in the average consumer" make.
Seriously, 17 idiots got confused by something because it had 'sky' in the name and the courts said that Microsoft had to make a change? Who are these people, and do they think that a satellite TV outfit also arranges parachute jumps (Sky Diving) and sits in on company meetings pitching in suggestions (Blue Sky Thinking)? Maybe the judge involved in making that original decision needs to get in touch with Microsoft again, after all maybe people will think that OneDrive is a car sponsored by a boy band or be confused when they sign up that it doesn't involve flying past a cuckoo's nest.
Anyway, the deed is done. Or at least it will be soon. The OneDrive name has been chosen and announced, the re-branding will start sometime real soon now. Ryan Gavin, General Manager for Consumer Apps and Services at Microsoft, says that the company believes "the new OneDrive name conveys the value we can deliver for you and best represents our vision for the future. We are excited about what is to come, and can’t wait to share more." Let's hope those 17 folk who were the catalyst for this pointless exercise in corporate muscle-flexing don't sign up; they would probably wonder how to get their clouds out of storage should they need some shade...
