[_pius]

The other other difference is that iPad, iPod, iPhone, etc. actually describe their eponymous products ...

iPhone? Sure. iPad? Maybe. iPod? Definitely not.

It only seems that way because the iPod dominated the product category so strongly as to become synonymous with "portable digital music player."

[Bud]

Huh? The iPad is pad-shaped and "pad" is a commonly-understood noun in the tech world to refer to these devices.

Same thing for iPod. It's pod-shaped (or was when it was introduced) and it's a pretty simple mental leap to classify this "pod" as a thing that you put your music "into".

By stark contrast, "Qwikster" has absolutely no mental, cultural or conceptual link to the product or service it describes. It's worthless as a name in addition to being confusing, already taken by various other services, impossible to spell, and dorky.

Not really debatable.

[_pius]

What does a "pod" have to do with playing music? Less than what being "quick" has to do with a DVD delivery service, in my opinion.

Not saying I like "Qwikster," but it's just not the case that the word "iPod" sounded like a music player before Apple made it famous.

[foulmouthboy]

Oh I'm sure I could rattle off at least a hundred or so names of products and services that have no relationship to their relative products, are challenging to spell (assuming you hadn't heard of them before) and sound somewhat similar to other services.