Oak Ridge26.05.2010
This is a blog post our marketing and community engagement departments strongly warned us against publishing. At least we imagine they would, had they existed...
Hiding behind labels
Computer hardware and software projects typically have a code-name hung off them to ensure drunken bar room boasts don't become valuable slivers of knowledge in the vast game that is corporate espionage.
The Amiga prototype was known as 'Lorraine', 'Chicago' shipped as Windows 95, and during its development, Backpage3.0 became known as 'Oak Ridge'.
What's in a name?
Most code-names are random, but that was not the case with Backpage3.0. What is the significance of Oak Ridge in this particular case? It wasn't the scene of a first kiss, court to an epic sports victory or the rolling windy field beneath a beautiful act of losing a carnal innocence...
No, Oak Ridge is a laboratory. A place of research and development. This institute was born as one of the thrusts of the massive 1943 Manhattan Project. America poured massive resources into the development of nuclear weapons to counter a perceived attempt by Nazi Germany to do the same. To this end the Oak Ridge complex was tasked with the development of separation techniques that would yield weapons grade fissionable material.
Errm...! I don't get it?
The Manhattan Project was a secret. To the lay observer, Oak Ridge was nothing more than a large factory. A factory that demanded massive numbers of men, machines and an endless feed of bulky raw material ... but it didn't seem to produce anything. For years endless resources went in... but nothing ever came out!
This pattern rang a familiar bell. We couldn't help but get the joke and the moniker kinda stuck...! :)
We've adopted shorter development sprints now. Honest!