Oh yes. It's such an easily avoidable unforced error it's downright incomprehensible - especially after failing by naming their third generation "XBox One" (and the WiiU fiasco providing a cautionary tale). Even Wii was an example of a product good enough that overcame its mildly confusing name. Console naming isn't actually hard.
I blame the rise of "Institutionalized Marketing Departments" inside tech companies dominated by careerist middle-managers who've never actually created any marketing themselves. They just hire and manage creative, ad, PR and branding agencies. The branding agency hires a naming consultancy for a million dollars who has a bunch of hipster creatives brainstorm a short-list of very clever names, do surveys and analyses overflowing with data (and false precision) then package it into an incredible pitch presentation delivered by their most attractive hipster with the coolest foreign accent. All to sell some "too clever by half" high-concept name - because that's the only way to justify their million dollar fee.
I'm pretty sure Sony didn't pay anyone a million dollars to spend three months coming up with "You should name the Playstation 3's successor... Playstation 4."
I blame the rise of "Institutionalized Marketing Departments" inside tech companies dominated by careerist middle-managers who've never actually created any marketing themselves. They just hire and manage creative, ad, PR and branding agencies. The branding agency hires a naming consultancy for a million dollars who has a bunch of hipster creatives brainstorm a short-list of very clever names, do surveys and analyses overflowing with data (and false precision) then package it into an incredible pitch presentation delivered by their most attractive hipster with the coolest foreign accent. All to sell some "too clever by half" high-concept name - because that's the only way to justify their million dollar fee.
I'm pretty sure Sony didn't pay anyone a million dollars to spend three months coming up with "You should name the Playstation 3's successor... Playstation 4."