Good luck selling plushies, apparel, comics or animated cartoons of lil' fun Sir David Attenborough! Now instead of having the dream name for science outreach and awareness for kids, you have a stark, cynical lesson on democracy.
I don't know. It feels like a missed opportunity to excite kids about research.<p>Can't you just see the series of children's books about Boaty McBoatface and all the incredible science adventures it has—a Magic School Bus 2.0?<p>Many people taking themselves too seriously. It's a shame.
Sir David Attenborough should have his legal name (or at least his twitter handle :)) changed to 'Sir Boaty McBoatface'. Then see what happens...
I think the name chosen is a good one and like David Attenborough himself, the boat's name will endure for a long time.<p>However, what did the organisation (NERC) expect when they gave a free choice for the names of the boat. They would have been far better having a poll of say 5 names which had been pre-selected.
The remotely operated vehicle has been named BoatyMcBoatface instead:<p><a href="https://twitter.com/NERCscience/status/728508385692418048" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/NERCscience/status/728508385692418048</a>
I'm disappointed.<p>If an organization decides to use a social media contest like this to promote themselves, they should have a social responsibility to adhere to the demands of the people.<p>"Boaty McBoatface" was a good name.
Disappointing. It's as if UC Santa Cruz had chosen "Sea Lions" over "Banana Slugs".<p><a href="http://www.ucsc.edu/about/mascot.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ucsc.edu/about/mascot.html</a>
I think people are underestimating the popularity of David Attenborough - to many people in the UK he is <i>the</i> face, and especially voice, of TV naturalism, and has been for decades.
Naming one of the remote drones 'Boaty' heads off people calling the ship 'Boaty' as a nickname. I wonder if that's why they did it.
It's almost as if representative democracy of this kind is a complete sham. It's a good job this kind of ridiculous situation doesn't crop up here on HN from our YC overlords !<p>Wait, what. [1]<p>[1] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11633517" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11633517</a>
Being named Boaty McBoatface would have been such a great icebreaker for starting outreach discussions. A ship like this one needs a great icebreaker sometimes.
Goofy names are usually fun for about 5 minutes, but quickly become seriously annoying if you have to use them continually. I imagine the same is true for ship names as for naming classes or functions.
Good outcome from this naming campaign<p>>We're building on the #BoatyMcBoatface spirit with a £1m Polar Explorer programme to inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers<p><a href="https://twitter.com/JoJohnsonMP/status/728499945402204160" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/JoJohnsonMP/status/728499945402204160</a>
If they wanted to name the boat after someone like Attenborough that's great but why open the vote to the public and then ignore the most popular choice?
They can name it whatever they want, that ship has been recorded as "Boaty McBoatface" to my memory.<p>Also really kudos to them, Boaty McBoatface made everyone smile when they heard the name and got them interested; Sir David Attenborough however... doesn't make that effect.
This just in ...<p>In a surprise move, Sir David Attenborough legally changes his name to Boaty McBoatface in support of the Internet hordes. Facing waning popularity, this maneuver is seen as a means of returning to the cult-icon status days he experienced as a broadcaster. When asked for comment, Sir McBoatface stated "I'm a few days short of my ninetieth birthday and let's face it - once I'm gone nobody's going to remember a name like Attenborough. As Boaty McBoatface, my name will actually be remembered. Would you like fries with that?"
When will they learn that holding an online poll to name stuff is never, <i>ever</i> a good idea. They should count themselves lucky the winning entry was work-safe.<p>Although I still feel that if you're going to go through with it you should stick with the results. Silly people.
If nothing else, I must say that reading through this thread, I now understand much better why I've always thought the world can be such a sad place; There are way too many people who apparently have no sense of humor.
Thank God that this boat was named after a television host rather than a whimsy chosen by the public. I guess "seriousness" was a choice between terminally ill children and entertainers. Couldn't find a scientist?
"Boaty McBoatface" was just irreverent enough without being offensive that it should have been a perfect choice to gain a bunch of free publicity.
They should have just gone with it, and said the people have spoken. It would have been good for morale, because everyone would have a smile on their face every time they said the name in a British accent.