VoodooPC Founder Takes Issue with HP's Envy "h8" PC
"Dislike" may even be an understatement.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) recently posted pictures and specs about its new Envy desktop PC on its website and caught the attention of Bing Fund partner Rahul Sood. Unfortunately, the VoodooPC founder was less than impressed with the latest addition to the Envy line and posted a rather irritated note to his Facebook network.
Before joining Microsoft, Sood founded VoodooPC, which was acquired by HP including all of its assets, brands and staff in 2006. Sood joined HP as CTO for its gaming PCs, but left the company in late 2010 - and HP killed much of the former VoodooPC product line earlier this year. However, Voodoo's Envy brand lives on and resulted in the most recent ENVY h8-1400t desktop PC model.
Sood, somewhat displeased, reacted to the machine with the following Facebook post:
"Thought I'd seen everything...then I saw the 'HP ENVY H8' desktop... what the heck guys? Is this code for I give up?"
Sure, the PC isn't an industrial design masterpiece -- no one would expect that with a starting price of $650 and the fact that HP is not a boutique PC brand. Packing a third gen Intel Core i5-3330 quad-core CPU (3.0GHz, 6MB shared cache), 6GB of DDR3, a 1GB AMD Radeon HD 7450, and a 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive, it's a mainstream PC for a mainstream brand. However, Sood apparently did not take issue with the design or the specs, but with the name Envy H8-1400T. The silly numbering aside, someone could easily read the product name as "Envy Hate."
It is unlikely that this is a deliberate move to make sure Voodoo's Envy will die, but we could file this one under brand blunders, right next to Mitsubishi Pajero and Chevrolet Nova.
We reached out to Sood, who told us: "I've always said that brand is so much more than a logo on the box, it starts with culture, which leads to product, which leads to evangelism and community - and all of that becomes the soul of your brand. The HP Way is still one of my favorite business books, and HP is a pioneer in this industry and an icon in the Valley. Let's hope they find the HP Way again."
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Wolfgang Gruener is an experienced professional in digital strategy and content, specializing in web strategy, content architecture, user experience, and applying AI in content operations within the insurtech industry. His previous roles include Director, Digital Strategy and Content Experience at American Eagle, Managing Editor at TG Daily, and contributing to publications like Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware.
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austinwillis81 Why is he mad about the name again, it's not like he is going to suffer from this.Reply -
balister austinwillis81Why is he mad about the name again, it's not like he is going to suffer from this.Reply
Read it slowly and phonetically: H-Eight = Hate, so it's the Envy Hate. -
austinwillis81 balisterRead it slowly and phonetically: H-Eight = Hate, so it's the Envy Hate.Reply
I know but he isn't even employed with them anymore. -
balister austinwillis81I know but he isn't even employed with them anymore.Reply
Yes, but he ran Voodoo for a very long time and Envy was one of Voodoo's lines. So he feels strongly about the work he put into making those lines for Voodoo something special. I think he has a little bit of reason to be perturbed with HP, especially after they basically demolished his baby (Voodoo PC) in the past year. -
kyuuketsuki The thing about the Chevrolet Nova is a bit of overblown nonsense. Yes, "no va" means "doesn't go" in Spanish. No, it didn't fail in Latin America because people in those countries thought the car didn't go because of the name.Reply
And now there's some big stink because of the Envy H8? Is it out-of-whack with HP's normal numbering for their products or something? If I hadn't read this article, I never would have thought anything of it. Seems a silly thing to raise a fuss over. -
kinggraves balisterYes, but he ran Voodoo for a very long time and Envy was one of Voodoo's lines. So he feels strongly about the work he put into making those lines for Voodoo something special. I think he has a little bit of reason to be perturbed with HP, especially after they basically demolished his baby (Voodoo PC) in the past year.Reply
Maybe he shouldnt have sold his baby then, if he was attached to it. Maybe he shouldn't have left the company and left his baby in the care of others. Leaving it with HP is like dropping your baby off at a crackhouse. Clearly he regrets leaving and he's just nitpicking a product which is NO LONGER his product. -
madjimms KyuuketsukiThe thing about the Chevrolet Nova is a bit of overblown nonsense. Yes, "no va" means "doesn't go" in Spanish. No, it didn't fail in Latin America because people in those countries thought the car didn't go because of the name.And now there's some big stink because of the Envy H8? Is it out-of-whack with HP's normal numbering for their products or something? If I hadn't read this article, I never would have thought anything of it. Seems a silly thing to raise a fuss over.Actually that IS the reason it failed...Reply -
Sorry Sood, but you sold the company. You pretty much lost the ability to complain about "culture" and "community" the second you cashed out.Reply