Reactions to a home security company named 'Sauron'. Documents repeat phrases: "Sauron", "They named the company Sauron", "A home security company named Sauron...", and quote "Sauron is the bad guy, why the fuck would you name a home security system after him".
Created 2 days ago • 68 documents • Range: 12/29 6:01am – 12/29 6:17pm"So, Mister... Sauron? As in the Lidless Eye? Dark Lord of Mordor? Scourge of Middle-earth?" "Guilty as charged!" *winks, finger-guns* "Right...ah, this security? Does it involve legions of orcs?" "Absolutely!" "Trolls?" "Oh yeah." "How's it against eagles and halflings?" "No comment, bro."
"Sauron"? "Sauron"??? "Palantir" at least you could argue was an incredibly powerful artifact that was originally used for good before being corrupted. (Although the company did in fact pick the name b/c of the corrupt usage.) But how is there _any_ positive association with "Sauron"?
the market for tech companies named after evil entities from Lord of the Rings is saturated. It’s time for Prancing Pony, a tavern-share app that lets people turn homes into rustic roadside inns for revelry and meeting rangers. Lembas, a startup specializing in nutritious travel cakes. Valinor…
YEP I can relate. My first coding stress dream was at EA. I don't remember the problem I was trying to solve, but I remember the solution involved emailing Sauron, whose email was conveniently in the company directory. And yeah, "just email Sauron" wasn't exactly helpful insight when I woke up.
https://c.tenor.com/o589HitcCbYAAAAd/what-is-devilry-the-lord-of-the-rings.gif
The saddest thing is that Tolkien himself was very much the opposite of them - he was anti-racist, celebrated women in academia & writing, he even created canonical Elvish terms for homosexuality, which is *radical* considering he died in 1973. Tolkien wasn't just a good guy, he was *woke as heck!*
"Why are you upset that I am using The One Ring? Can't you just be civil about me using the Ring of Sauron for my own purposes? But I, Boromir, am not evil. Why are you all drawing your swords on me? Well fuckit, I guess I simply need to kill you all now, as you have all turned against me."
By “appearing on the scene” you mean the company referencing a relatively minor, now ended crime wave as its origin story with a product that clearly isn’t going to exist anytime soon even tho it’s already a year overdue, named after a despotic character defeated by a little gremlin guy w/big feet
"I'm starting to think these guys did read the books they're just taking the wrong messages from them."
Okay. Just for you, I'll change the name of my new food delivery system for the ultra-rich from it's planned Tolkien based name to Human~Centipede
"Are you a despot with near-absolute power, but still worry that some filthy hobbitses might infiltrate your heavily fortified estate to mess with your jewelry? Then we’ve got the product for you! Call 1-800-OrcsNow and we’ll throw in the ninth cursed soul of man free of charge, while society lasts!"
So let me get this straight: affluent tech bros, panicking over an empirically false “crime wave” in SF, copy a movie-style militarized security fantasy (e.g., Homewrecker), where it always ends badly, and name it after a character famous for failing to protect his home despite his power and wealth?
I don't think there's a funnier example of naming a company after a character who sucked at what the company claims to do than naming a home monitoring system after Sauron. Like Freddy Krueger Sleep Number Beds or Event Horizon Travel Services are there, but a tier below. Tony Montana Detox?
The CPO's name is literally "Merlin the Cowherd." The whitest wizard. "Saruman says he was drawn to Sauron by both the mission and an opportunity to solve a real problem. “I like the deterrence aspect — changing people’s minds before they make a bad decision and get into trouble,” he said."
@xgranade It occurred to me the other day that a lot of them probably think like Saruman. I mean, think about it: Saruman, always the smartest guy in the room, decides that his high INT score implies a high WIS score as well. (To be fair, people _did_ call him "Saruman the Wise," which probably […]