The sex appeal of the Apple brand is intoxicating, but they are walking around with a single long streamer of tissue stuck to the bottom of their shoe – the single-button mouse.

We just unboxed some new iMac G5’s, and right there, right next to the most beautiful, intuitive computer ever fashioned, was that annoying piece of has-been technology. So now, like most Mac users, we have swapped out Apple’s mice for two-button models w/ scroll wheels (old Dell’s!), breaking the Apple brandscape before us.

What is Apple clinging to with the single-button mouse? An iconic design with a lot of brand legacy, for sure. But since this mouse is the one part of the experience that falls short, the part that shouts, “Yesterday!”, and unnecessarily so, the brand equity cost is too high. This mouse needs to find a new house.

MTV’s much anticipated “competitor to iTunes” presents an interesting naming puzzle. What do you name a service that will pull together the multicultural audience of MTV’s 100 plus global television stations, not to mention their CMT and VH1 viewers? What do you need to do to name a music downloading service that must have a bit of the MTV edge, yet still intrigue classical music fans worldwide? Hold onto your fat, apparently you call Igor ( we don’t get it either).

Some of the finest time we have ever spent on the corporate teat was on this job, but now the weaning must begin, as the results are in, the job is done, and a sippy cup will have to do. . . But hot damn, that’s one fine name. Stay tuned, right now we’ve got some refrigerators that need moving.

Deep Freeze Nine weighs-in on Microsoft’s new OS tagline, “Clear, Confident, Connected: Bringing Clarity to your World”. Actually, the clunkatude fits nicely with, “Our software does stuff that helps your potential reach its full inspiration by giving you the ability to…”, or whatever the heck it is.

And a New York Times article offers this nugget about Windows Vista, the new OS name:

The name was chosen after eight months of research and focus groups because it “captures the idea of clarity,” the company said.

Apparently we’ve been officially refuted: naming is rocket science, after all. Now it’s all becoming clear to us.