The Story of Skyhound

When I started my fledgling software business back in 1990 I needed a name. I loved the name Sirius Software (a pun would be absolutely perfect for my sense of humor) but it was already being used. I wanted something unique that had "soft" in it for "software." So I started going through constellations and stars adding "soft" to them, such as LyraSoft, AltairSoft, etc., until I came across one I liked: CapellaSoft. I didn't realize at the time that for many around the world I'd in fact named my endeavor GoatSoft!

At that time the commercial Internet was just getting started and I wasn't ready as yet to have my own domain name. When the time finally came I checked for capellasoft.com and discovered to my great dismay that it was already registered. Some guy in Phoenix had it, although he wasn't using it. No doubt he'd registered it with the idea that I'd one day buy it from him. That really ticked me off; I hated the idea of being extorted for my own name. About that time we were thinking about moving from California to New Mexico, and we made a car trip across the southwest. On the long drive I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my new web site. I knew I wanted to split it into two parts, one for the business and one for observing. But try as I might I couldn't come up with a good name for the URL. With capellasoft.com taken I was looking for something more unique and interesting.

As we drove across southern New Mexico we passed Rock Hound State Park. I thought, if there were amateur rock hounds, why couldn't there be amateur sky hounds? When I got home I checked the domain name: skyhound.com was available. I also did a search on skyhound using the search engines of the day, and I got only two hits, both from Italy. Apparently there was a sci-fi comic book that had a space shuttle in it named Skyhound. But that was it. I knew I'd found my name. Eventually it was too confusing to have CapellaSoft at skyhound.com, so I went ahead and changed the name of my business to match.

After I registered skyhound.com I realized that if I was going to coin a new word then I had the chance to define it as well. So I added this at the top of my new web page: "Skyhound -- noun: someone with a keen interest in all aspects of the sky--from visual observation to scientific curiosity."

This morning I typed Skyhound into Google. There were 13,800 hits! It's not all me though--there is a wireless internet company called Skyhound, which judging by their logo is a takeoff of skyhoundz competition, which is about dogs catching frisbees.

I used to be able to sign up for web services and email addresses using the nickname skyhound, but now more often than not it's already taken. Although on the one hand that's a bit annoying, on the other I have to chuckle and shake my head. I wonder how much in total the guy in Phoenix paid year after year for capellasoft.com?