Comments on: Spreading Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

By: Mark Pietrusinski

Mark Pietrusinski — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 10:47:26 +0000

I also confirm that the name completely turned me off to the product. Searching for “outlook+rss” on Google; Newsgator.com came up second, but I instinctively skipped to the next one down the list after seeing the word “gator” in there. I may try out the product now after reading the above posts, but am still a bit hesitant.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 11:09:02 +0000

I’m afraid I have to concur. I was just about to download a copy as it looked a nice product but then I saw the ‘G’ word and stopped dead in my tracks.

Having since found this site I’m going to go back and give it a try but not everyone will search around like me.

By: Greg Reinacker

Greg Reinacker — Fri, 19 Mar 2004 00:33:29 +0000

Ian, it’s tough to say. We get comments on both sides of the fence. We also have to weigh it against the cost of changing the name, given our name recognition. We have quite a few discussions about this internally!

By: Ian Spencer

Ian Spencer — Thu, 18 Mar 2004 02:18:51 +0000

I did not get newsgator until I read about it on http://www.slipstick.com which is a site that I trust.

The name with gator in it sends a chill down my spine. I tell all my friends and family if it has the word gator in it don’t touch it. Now I have to tell everyone that their is an exception to the rule.

My personal opinion is you may have to bite the bullit and change names. Do you have any idea the impact the name has on your product?

By: F. Andy Seidl

F. Andy Seidl — Fri, 20 Feb 2004 20:23:35 +0000

For the record, I don’t buy the “walled gargen” argument at all. I think Jim Louderback is missing an important point. I wrote about it here:

The “Keep RSS Free for All” Free-for-all

http://myst-technology.com/mysmartchannels/public/item/21700

By: Greg Reinacker

Greg Reinacker — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 17:25:18 +0000

Our PR folks and I have a conversation about the name every couple of weeks…it’s a tough between keeping it and changing it.

By: Rob Cannon

Rob Cannon — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 17:13:13 +0000

I know you have invested alot into the NewGator name, but everytime I mention it to someone, they immediately associate it with the Spyware company. I have to convince them that you are not related to that company.

By: Greg Reinacker

Greg Reinacker — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 16:25:36 +0000

Thanks for the clarification, Mark…I appreciate it.

By: steven

steven — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 13:56:31 +0000

Greg (and others), check out today’s USA Today, page 6B.

“… Several tools shown at Demo provide help to folks who want to produce blogs or find others to read.

“In the latter camp are Feedster, a blog search engine, and news “aggregators” such as newsDash from OddPost, and NewsGator. …”

By: Mark Fletcher

Mark Fletcher — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 01:08:03 +0000

Thinking back to my spyware comment, when I wrote it I wasn’t thinking about NewsGator, I was reacting to what I thought was his implication about the risks of downloading anything off the ‘net these days. In general, it’s a valid concern.

It is unfortunate that this comment could been seen as me implying that NewsGator contains spyware, because I don’t believe that, have never heard that, and I wasn’t thinking that when I wrote the comment. I sincerely apologize if the words implied any association.