Franzine
Jan Wildeboer 😷
Nero Burning ROM will always stay in my heart as the best product name ever. This is not open for discussion.
1/3
(For the younger generation: Burning ROM meant burning up to 650MB of data on a CD-R(W). For the even younger ones: Nero was a ROMan emperor who, according to legend, watched the city of Rome burning after he started the fire :)
2/3
And finally, the real punchline for non-German speaking people: in the German language the city of Rome is spelled Rom. Nero/ahead software was and is a German company. Get it now? :) you are welcome! And I am deeply satisfied to witness a great disturbance in The Force. Millions of people saying “oh, shit! THAT’s why they named it Burning ROM”
3/3
Ridscherli@jwildeboer Bonus Info: of course support always had to answer questions about appropriateness naming a product after this bad man, bringing so much sadness to his city... and then the version with exactly 666 MB installer size was published :-)
Kevin Karhan 
@jwildeboer the original desktop & start menu icon on Windows was the collosseum on fire...
TheGecko@kkarhan @jwildeboer yes, I remember that as well.
Prof Heino Falcke@jwildeboer That is embarrassing 😬 (I now hope, I simply forgot)
Walter Tross@jwildeboer
I'm German and live in Rom* ;-)
(and of course being 2^6 I've used Nero Burning ROM a lot)
I'm German and live in Rom* ;-)
(and of course being 2^6 I've used Nero Burning ROM a lot)
Dewey@jwildeboer mind blown. Thanks for the detail
MJ 
@jwildeboer They actually updated the splash screen in case people didn't get it...
Jernej Simončič �
Philip@jwildeboer I did not know that last tidbit! But already agreed with you from the start. Always thought they did a good job with that :)
Peter Jakobs ⛵@jwildeboer I would say that's why they called it Nero, it was always supposed to burn (CD-) ROM(s) - I don't remember if other languages used "burning" (brennen) as the verb for writing data onto writable optical media anyway. I believe I heard englisch speakers say "I can cut you a CD" 🤔
You're the personified wayback machine, Jan 🤭
·J Mopp@pjakobs @jwildeboer English tends to use both 'burn' and 'cut' for CDs. 'burn' referring to the action of a laser on a blank CD, and then 'cut' from the vinyl days, bringing to mind the cutting of a groove on a record
sotolf@pjakobs @jwildeboer In Norway we use burning as well "brenne" and Rom is one of the words we use for rome as well, so the pun translated cleanly for us.
ScriptFanix💍
@pjakobs
Those were Brits, weren't they? I've seen many software products call it burning. Whether Nero coined the verb or not it's left as an exercise to the reader
@jwildeboer
Those were Brits, weren't they? I've seen many software products call it burning. Whether Nero coined the verb or not it's left as an exercise to the reader
@jwildeboer
No, the folks behind Nero were German. That's why the pun with ROM works 😉
@jwildeboer
Luke@jwildeboer Aha! So that's why the a more Anglicised version was called NERO burning ROM(e)
@jwildeboer The icon was a burning Colosseum after all.
Ash@jwildeboer I got it way back then, and found it clever and loved it, but I didn’t have the third layer of German, so thank you for that!
Liam Proven@ashiel @jwildeboer Same. I got the "Nero/burning/Rome" part but not the Rom/Rome part.
Neo Ehproque@jwildeboer I'm not a German or English native, but after years of using it it dawned on me that Rome was pronounced like ROM and how genius this was, can't agree more on it being the best product name ever
mirabilos@jwildeboer @ehproque as a German native, the ROM in CD-ROM is with a short open o, the city of Rom with a long semi-closed o, so the pun didn’t translate to voice (I always said burning ROM not burning Rom) but still present
Fabian (WobIntosh)@jwildeboer omg, I had not realized the „Rom“ part before. Great indeed!
Lou Lüeder@jwildeboer I can't remember the context of why she specifically explained it to me, but I was 11 when I learned this from my latin teacher.
Jan Helebrant@jwildeboer I loved that funny yet informative guide 😜 We got the 5.5 version with our TEAC CD-RW drive.
Oblomov@jwildeboer and the desktop icon was the Colosseum in flames.
SKC 🏳️🌈
bws@jwildeboer totally second that. Further when going international the company changed its name from "ahead" to nero out of... Lets say.. Obvious reasons for some not so compatible name 🫣
Giuseppe Mazzapica@jwildeboer Well, as an Italian it was quite obvious for me, even because the logo was the colosseum on fire :)
Nodami
Lauma Pret ♡ ᪲᪲᪲🌈@jwildeboer
I didn't know about the German part, but their icon (at least for some versions) was Coliseum with flames, so I thought it is a phonetic joke.
I didn't know about the German part, but their icon (at least for some versions) was Coliseum with flames, so I thought it is a phonetic joke.
Jons Mostovojs@laumapret same, as a child I always read it as "Nero burning Rome". I didn't know it also says it verbatim in german
Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸@jwildeboer THAT’s why they named it Burning Rom!! 😆
Michal Bryxí@jwildeboer I'm so chuffed now, because it took me only about 3 years of usage to figure that out myself 😅
Bob K Mertz 
@jwildeboer
I always got the reference but figured it was just a play on words. I never actually realized the German language connection.
I always got the reference but figured it was just a play on words. I never actually realized the German language connection.
my.intimate.secrets@jwildeboer No, I did not burn (down) my discs, I toasted them https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxio_Toast but they never tasted as toasts should 
Massimiliano Siddi@jwildeboer Damn. Never occurred to me, but it makes sense to me now after almost thirty fucking years. 🤯
Sindarina, Edge Case Detective@jwildeboer Hah, I had never made that connection before 😄
LovesTha🥧@jwildeboer I loved Nero.
I never got the reference
@LovesTha Now you know. You’re very welcome! And I am deeply satisfied I could share this totally irrelevant piece of trivia and I hope it made you smile for a second :)
Dagnabbit, Pascaline! 💥@jwildeboer
Made me smile too ☺️
paulfreeman@LovesTha @jwildeboer the same. Never noticed until you’ve pointed it out all these years later
Fell@jwildeboer I always knew the pun with Nero and burning, but it took this post today to make me see the pun in ROM and Rome.
Kara Goldfinch@jwildeboer I used it back in the day but never put 2 and 2 together. It's brilliant.
Gary Houston@jwildeboer I vaguely remember that burning CDs was a bit tricky, involving special software with complicated options to get the right speed for the right disk. I was just a Linux user and didn't have fancy pun-filled products like "Nero burning Rom."
Radio AzureusMany of the kids have not even seen a DVD let Alone CD
A number of them are even too lazy to look it up at Wikipedia
Luckily I'm from the period where bands could keep playing when power was shut off
deBaer@jwildeboer I was always unhappy with the implied fact that you could burn a CD-ROM. ROM literally means "read-only memory". You cannot burn (write to) it. A CD-R is not a ROM, but a WORM (write once, read many).
Trit’@jwildeboer Nice pun, except that Nero actually SAVED the Roman people from the fire (which was accidental: Nero himself was NOT in Rome when it started, and he did NOT started it!). He opened his palace to rescue the victims.
devolute@jwildeboer Pretty sure I recall taking things to 700mb. Really living life on the edge though, as ever. It was good software.
RobThe commitment is inspiring.
Viss@jwildeboer time travel!
Ben B.@jwildeboer memories 
@frzifus @jwildeboer so many memories...
Guillaume ⁂@jwildeboer OMG I just got it!!! Yeah really cool name !
Frank Nord@jwildeboer Gibt es immer noch, ob es einem 50,- wert ist, steht dahin.
Ludwig Vielfrass@jwildeboer Did you enjoy...fiddling with it?
I'll see myself out.
Hunter King@jwildeboer wait is Rom being one letter off from Rome part of the joke? If so that punchline lands at least a decade later for me