[its_so_on]

This is some pretty risky naming. It makes me think, "Cause of death: thrown trying to ride a Ryno."

That would work if it were an energy drink - but this thing will be in traffic, which really is a major cause of death.

I mean it doesn't exactly say stability and easy of riding, does it? (Which are the main reasons that people who aren't being gimmicky don't choose unicycles over bicycles.)

With a name like this it would attract a suicidal/desperado crowd, which usually doesn't invest in its future long enough to have much money at any one time. (i.e. you can't target early adopters at a premium price with this naming/branding, which is usually the key to marketing something like this successfully and getting it adopted widely as you learn how to make it better and roll out on scale.)

I would change the name.

[lsc]

>It makes me think, "Cause of death: thrown trying to ride a Ryno."

I mean, it won't appeal to the sort that will buy something that only goes 20mph, but you just wrote the advertising campaign for the thing.

[its_so_on]

It's terrible branding, because it helps give the wrong impression.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1YoCfm7nxU&t=4m0s

It's a great tagline - if you're 15-19. Who wouldn't want to show their daring trying to ride a Ryno!

Answer: any of the people that would be actual early adopter buyers for this expensive new product. (Middle aged rich people.) Segway did it a lot better here, and Ryno needs to do like them.

[lsc]

meh, look at who buys the high end BMW and HD brand motorcycles. They are almost entirely limited to the over 40 crowd. I mean, that's mostly due to the expense (just like the Ryno) but clearly, The 'death machine' mystique isn't limited to the young.

[its_so_on]

my entire comment is about the name Ryno, which I assume is a homonym for "Rhino". And you ride it, even though it obviously looks dangerous and unstable.

Do you have any specific examples like that from BMW and HD? This wuold be like, I don't know, calling a plane "freefall". Sure there's a danger mystique - but should that be in the name?

[lsc]

eh, I think naming a motorcycle "death machine" would be... redundant? silly? I mean, the statistics show pretty clearly that it's one of the most dangerous ways to travel. Even so, you do see people dressing up motorcycles with skulls and German military decorations, as if the fact that it is by it's nature a dangerous machine was not enough by itself.

The Ryno, on the other hand, has no such statistics. For all I know, it's as safe as a segwey. And, if the problem they are trying to overcome is the nerd factor of the segway, and if, in fact, it isn't dangerous (I have no idea) then I think making the name sound a bit more dangerous might make sense, in the same way that putting a HD logo and some 'iron cross' accessories on a pickup makes it easier to sell.