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Comment by tianqi | Hacker News Reader

Has anyone ever just called them 'Wise'? Every single mention is 'Wise (formerly TransferWise)' like it's part of their legal entity name. Their CEO probably introduces himself as 'CEO of Wise (formerly TransferWise)'.

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When you change your name and then have to constantly say (formerly OldName), it's a sign of a bad name-change decision. When you change your name to a common word, that does nothing to say what you actually do, it's a sign of a bad name-change decision. When you do both at once...

It's like Twitter, there was no good reason to change a name with years of trust and reputation. "X" sounds juvenile and stupid, and so does "Wise". I don't understand how it's legal for companies to name themselves as common words like "Alphabet". It's not only confusing, it's arrogant as hell.

Same with Apple

Apple wasn't a name change, though: that was its name from the beginning. Slightly different situation. (Yes, they changed their name from Apple Computer Company to Apple Inc. once they started making smartphones, but that's not the same because the part of their name that everyone called them, Apple, was kept unchanged). Their logo was always an apple with a bite out of it, their first computer was the Apple I (first one of theirs I ever used was the Apple II)... they really leaned into the name, and made it part of their identity. Which isn't the case with Alphabet or Wise.

>I don't understand how it's legal for companies to name themselves as common words like "Alphabet". It's not only confusing, it's arrogant as hell

When I said Apple I was referring to this part

I didn't sign up with them until they rebranded to "Wise", so that's what I call them. If this article just called them "TransferWise", I doubt I would have known it was the same as the Wise I use.

I call them Wise now, have for at least a year. I first joined years before they renamed. Wise is a lot quicker to say.

I've only known it as just Wise

I've been traveling around the world for many years and stayed in probably thousands of hotels. Eventually I figured if hotel has words like "supreme", "extraordinary", "exceptional" and sorts, do expect absolutely shitty quality for eh, "supreme" costs.

Wonder if the same logic can be applicable to Wise.

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