[dawg-]

I could see Zoom ending up like Kleenex or Jet Ski or Crock-Pot or Chapstick, where the brand name becomes the word for the thing itself.

Edit because I googled it for more examples and couldn't help myself: Tupperware, Band-Aids, Post-It, Slip n Slide, Xerox, Velcro, Weed Eater, Scotch Tape, Q-Tips, Rollerblades, Jacuzzi, Bubble Wrap.....

[dmd]

A few days ago this gem appeared in my inbox: "Hey folks, we had trouble setting up the Cisco zoom this meeting so we're switching to a Google zoom, here's the link"

[Cthulhu_]

Have they tried googling the issue via Bing?

[dafoex]

As a slight tangent, generic trademark names aren't always as generic the world over. I've never heard anyone ask for a Kleenex when the want a tissue, and from your further examples I assume a xerox is something to do with stationary or printing, and I couldn't tell you what a q-tip is without googling it.

A reverse example of something I use generically but has confused a number of people I talk to in the states is using "Hoover" to mean "vacuum cleaner". They're just called hoovers because the Hoover company made them at one point.

[tantalor]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark

[LyndsySimon]

When the "Zoom bombing" trend hit the news, I expected that would be the beginning of the end for the company. They were having security issues due to an integral part of their platform's implementation at the same time that they were seeing an unprecedented increase in usage. Scaling and essentially rearchitecting at the same time, under load, is a huge challenge.

I'm very impressed that they've pulled through. If anything, Zoom has improved during the transition. That's not to say that I find it to be the best solution - I've had several videoconferencing/telepresence solutions work well for me in the past - but it's certainly "good enough" and they're in an enviable market position at this point.

In a few months, I'd love to see some retrospectives come out about how they did it from both the engineering and management perspectives.