With the news about microchip maker’s price wars, I can’t seem to miss the fact that a number of the new Intel chips are codenamed some very unique names: Conroe, Woodcrest, Montecito, Kentsfield, etc. Am I on a hiking trail or is this a function of the naming montage we see in planned communities?

To prove my point, see if you can add the word for a road to it. Examples: Kentsfield Street. Yep. Montecito Avenue. Yep. Woodcrest Trail. Woodcrest Drive. Double yep.

It doesn’t make much sense for Intel to use such nomenclature. A simple demarcation of a letter and number is enough for people to comprehend. Such a name can explain how powerful a chip is and of what rank it is within the company.

It is not like I am saying a company should not have a name for its product, but the Pentium chip only had a number with each new phase of its evolution. All in all, as the phrase goes “What’s in a name?” If new chips can prove themselves to be good it won’t matter what they are called.