TOPEKA - Google's name for Today
Lincoln Boss
I was mildly surprised when I opened Google's homepage today. Instead of the customary Google, it was replaced by the letters TOPEKA. Knowing it is April 1 or April Fools Day, I knew right away it was some sort of a joke. However, it made me curious about what is Topeka.
From the Google Blog, it says
"Early last month the mayor of Topeka, Kansas stunned the world by announcing that his city was changing its name to Google. We’ve been wondering ever since how best to honor that moving gesture. Today we are pleased to announce that as of 1AM (Central Daylight Time) April 1st, Google has officially changed our name to Topeka.Topeka is the capital city of Kansas State and it means to dig good potatoes. Big G chose the name as its April Fool's offering to return a favor. The city decided to change its name for the whole month from Topeka to Google, Kansas. It is obviously an ingenious ploy to persuade Google to choose the city for its Google Fiber project which awards ultra-fast broadband internet connection to city benificiaries.
We didn’t reach this decision lightly; after all, we had a fair amount of brand equity tied up in our old name. But the more we surfed around (the former) Topeka’s municipal website, the more kinship we felt with this fine city at the edge of the Great Plains.
In fact, Topeka Google Mayor Bill Bunten expressed it best: “Don’t be fooled. Even Google recognizes that all roads lead to Kansas, not just yellow brick ones.”
Photo taken from the Google Blog
Which leads to the question:
If you are a city mayor, what tech or gadget-related name would you name your city?
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