entering natick sign

entering natick sign

Natick Report

More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.

  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Eat
  • Summer Camp
  • Private Schools in Natick & beyond
  • Public schools, sponsored by Sexton
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters
  • Sports schedule & results
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Events
  • Kids
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Beyond Natick
  • History
  • Government
  • Seniors
  • Natick Nest
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Natick snow plowing services
 
Needham Bank, Natick
 

Microsoft swears its naming of Project Natick was random

June 9, 2021 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

Among the top Google search results for the word “natick” curiously are “Microsoft natick” and “Project Natick.”

They refer to an effort by Microsoft launched in 2015 called Project Natick focused on building underwater data centers to support cloud networking for coastal communities. The company is now in Phase 2 of the project, which entails installing a renewable energy-powered data center boasting more than 800 servers in the North Sea.

Microsoft's Project Natick

 

Natick-ShortClips-10

The Project Network website features an FAQ that directly addresses the question of:

What does the name Natick mean?

Natick is a codename and carries no special meaning. It is a town in Massachusetts.

I know my way around tech code names, having been a longtime reporter and editor for International Data Group’s Network World , and I just wasn’t buying it. One of the project founders had to have lived here or had something special happen in Natick. A first date at the Mall, or something.

Not wanting to take Microsoft’s marketing site at its word, I wrote to Project Manager Ben Cutler, who I was so pleased responded to me directly and quickly. Though I was disappointed that indeed, there’s really no great significance to the Natick name for this project.

Cutler wrote: “It really is just a codename. For no particularly good reason other than randomness to avoid naming things in any way that ascribes meaning, at one time my team used names of cities in Massachusetts as codenames. Natick was one of those.  We’ve also used names of national capitols, birds, minerals, and other randomly selected name categories.”

So there you have it.

As for the meaning of the name Natick itself, we’ve seen different explanations, but the one we have ingrained in our heads is that which we saw for years at the Golf on the Village Green: “Place of Hills.”

Meanwhile, be assured you can’t order yourself up some Microsoft Natick locally anymore. The Microsoft Store at Natick Mall was shuttered in 2020.


Ask about Advertising on Natick Report.


Subscribe to our Natick Report daily email

Filed Under: Business, Technology

Comments

  1. Denise says

    June 9, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    Interesting! Still not buying it either!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Tip us off!

Please send news tips, photos, ideas to natickreport@gmail.com

If you’d like to contribute $ to support our independent journalism venture, please do….

Advertisements

Categories

  • Animals
  • Art
  • Bacon Free Library
  • Beyond Natick
  • Books
  • Boston Marathon
  • Business
  • Camps
  • Charity/Fundraising
  • Community
  • Construction
  • COVID-19
  • Education
  • Election
  • Embracing diversity
  • Employment/careers
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Fashion
  • Fire
  • Food
  • Gardens
  • Government
  • Health
  • History
  • Holidays
  • Housing
  • Kids
  • Letters to the editor
  • Media
  • Military
  • Morse Institute Library
  • Music
  • Natick Election 2022
  • Natick Historical Society
  • Natick History Museum
  • Natick Mall
  • Natick Nest
  • Natick track
  • Neighbors
  • Obituaries & remembrances
  • Opinion
  • Outdoors
  • Parents
  • Police & crime
  • Real estate
  • Recycling Center
  • Religion
  • Restaurants
  • Schools
  • Seniors
  • Shopping
  • South Natick Dam
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Theater
  • Town election 2021
  • Town Election 2023
  • Town Meeting
  • Transportation
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Vacation
  • Veterans
  • Volunteering
  • Voting
  • Weather
lion publishers
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Get our email newsletter

* indicates required
Our newsletter is free, though we gladly accept contributions to support our work.

Most Read Posts

  • Tree-mendous defense at Natick's saddest basketball court
  • New MBTA schedule encourages Natick to party on
  • Natick Center Historical Walking Tours coming up
  • Walk this way for a cultural experience on the Cochituate Rail Trail
  • Natick ready for Community Preservation Committee member applicants

Click image to read The Swellesley Report

The Swellesley Report

Upcoming Events

Sep 27
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Sober in the Suburbs speaker event

Sep 28
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Speaker: Meteorologist Harvey Leonard on extreme weather

Oct 1
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Opening celebration of Little Free Diverse Library of children’s books

Oct 13
8:30 am - 10:30 am

Dedham Country Day School Classroom Observation Day

Oct 14
9:00 am - 1:30 pm

55+ Health and Wellness Fair

View Calendar

Pages

  • Letters to the editor on Natick Report
  • Natick community gardens
  • South Natick Dam Park (Charles River waterfall/spillway)
  • Guidelines for Natick Report letters to the editor
  • Natick election 2023—guidelines for promoting candidates and ballot questions
  • Natick’s 2023 Boston Marathon charity runners
  • Natick, Massachusetts libraries
  • Comment Policy
  • Bacon Free Library in Natick, hours for winter 2023
  • Morse Institute Library in Natick—hours for winter 2023
  • Resources for seniors in Natick, Mass.
  • Natick Report corrections policy
  • Scenic Roads in Natick
  • Where to stay in Natick, Mass. (hotels, inns)
  • Private Schools in Natick (and beyond)
  • Natick Summer Camps (and beyond)
  • Where to eat in Natick, Mass: more that 70 dining options
  • Natick, Mass., history
  • Natick government
  • Natick No-Nos
  • Embracing diversity in Natick
  • Where to worship in Natick
  • Kid stuff (sports, clubs, activities in Natick, Mass.)
  • Contribute to Natick Report
  • Natick Little Free Libraries
  • Natick public schools
  • Natick obituaries, September 2023
  • Where to sled in Natick, Mass.
  • Natick COVID-19 & vaccine news
  • Natick’s zip code & post offices
  • Natick charitable and community action groups
  • Top 10 things to do in Natick, Mass.
  • Natick Arts/Entertainment
  • About Natick Report
  • Advertise on Natick Report
  • Natick rules: Chickens yes, roosters no
  • Natick Election 2023, political candidates advertising
  • Natick election 2022—candidate interviews

© 2023 Natick Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login