Jeff Bercovici of Forbes.com writes that The Atlantic has decided on Quartz as the name for its new business news site.
Bercovici writes, “One is symbolic: The mineral quartz is associated with intense geological activity. ‘It’s a bit of a metaphor for our intent to cover obsessively the tectonic shifts in the global economy,’ Delaney says.
“Another is aesthetic: With both a ‘q’ and a ‘z,’ two of the least frequently used letters, it’s just an unusual and distinctive-looking word.
“Then there are the utilitarian considerations. For its domain, Quartz will drop all the more common characters in favor of the ultra-pithy qz.com. In an environment where the importance of Twitter as a distribution channel puts characters at a premium, a two-letter domain ‘practically eliminates the needs for a URL shortener,’ says Delaney. ‘From a practical standpoint, it’s user-friendly.’
“It’s also easier for mobile users to type in on their smallish keyboards. Plus there’s the fact that the company that owns Quartz.com, a manufacturer of scientific equipment, didn’t want to give it up.”
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