Talk about an identity crisis! Virtually every name we came up with for the company was either considered harmful by the founders, or considered already taken by the California Secretary of State. Our numerous attempts to find a name didn't deter us from making ever more imaginative suggestions. First, a passel of names proposed by Duff Kurland.
To: WALKER
DUFF (02/26-11:15)
``Integrity Software'' sounds good.... I did have a couple of other ideas, however (and they didn't even involve puns!)....
Desktop Software Valu-Ware Desktop Solutions Future-Ware
I kind of like ``Desktop Software'', but can't help wondering where it will go: ...``Bottom Left Drawer Software''...``Shoebox Software''...``Breast Pocket Software''...``Shoestring Software''...(Hmmmm...). Other suggestions (some in jest):
Office Solutions Execu-Ware Out-of-Control Data Corp. Titanic Software Business Ware MIS Information Systems Good OfficeKeeping Manage-Ware Ethical Ripoffs, Inc. Dud & Brannstreet Mr. Softee Software Breakthroughs Office Technology Upper-Ware Management Technology Conceptual Elegance Compu-Freaks Smelly Rand
Other names proposed for the company with various degrees of seriousness included:
Command Technologies Command Line Technology RHT, Inc. Target Software Insight Automation, Ltd. Coders Of the Lost Spark Autodesk, Inc.
Of these names, ``Desktop Solutions'' was initially chosen. We showed AutoCAD and the Autodesk prototype at the West Coast Computer Faire in 1982 under this name, and it appeared on the first brochures we ever printed. It was rejected by the Secretary of State, as were ``Target Software'' and ``Insight Automation''. By the way, ``RHT'' stood for ``Red Hot Techies''.
This drawing is another converted from M9900 INTERACT to AutoCAD-80 and thence to AutoCAD-86 by DXF. We showed it at COMDEX in 1982 and used it on the sample drawings disc for the first AutoCAD release.
