My problem with More Personal Computing as a Branding Attempt

We all know that Microsoft has had a long history with problematic branding. For every “Silverlight” that comes along we get many more confusing monikers like “Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007.” As the old saw goes, if Microsoft invented the iPod, they would have called it the “Microsoft I-pod Pro 2005 Human Ear Professional Edition.”

While “More Personal Computing” breaks the trend of long academic nomenclature, it is still a bit wordy. It’s also a pun. For anyone who hasn’t figured out the joke, MPC can mean either [More] Personal Computing — for people who still haven’t gotten enough personal computing, apparently — or [More Personal] Computing — for those who like their technology to be intimate and a wee bit creepy.

But the best gloss on MPC, IMO, comes from this 1993 episode of The Simpsons. Enjoy: