Well I would think good branding follows the continuity principle. If you have the QB64 programming language, and package it with something we end up calling the Infinity++ IDE, and then call the tutorial the Looney Tunes Guide to Modern Programming, well, how does that help in creating a successful brand?
You are absolutely correct. Brand continuity is a foundational axiom of marketing. To break that continuity is tantamount to product suicide.
That being said, there are some brands that have become tarnished with an unwarranted bad reputation, such as BASIC. Some brands kneecap themselves all on their own. Take for example The Sci Fi Channel. When they changed their name to Syfy back in 2009, they lost over a third of their sponsors and nearly all of their net recognition while also garnering some fantastic jokes about the name being slang for syphilis - something they STILL haven't yet recovered from.
The question begins with the original brand and it's demographic. I dare say that "QB64" is perfect for its demographic; hobbyists, nostalgists, and other niche programmers are naturally drawn to it. However, in the educational market, that name is unmarketable. Please understand, it's a common problem when writing for the K-12 industry. Usually the wining bids have some goofy looking mascot and the name of an animal in the title. It's embarrassing. If I see one more damn owl or ferret on the cover of a textbook I think I'll puke up my own liver. We in the industry refer to it as Rikki-Tikki-Takki. As it stands, the committee members I've already spoken to about the name "Kwik" just naturally assumed there would be a damn road runner on the cover! Ever wonder why O'Reilly books all have animals on them? Edie Freedman, an artist, teacher and mother of four, thought that Unix program names sounded like weird animals and fashioned the cover art after a popular children's textbook!
I understand the appeal. Children identify with cute animal mascots. But I think that speaks down to children. Kids are far more intuitive than we give them credit for - well, at least the clever little booger-miners I come in contact with are. I could put QB64 in front of them and they wouldn't blink. It's the damn teachers and administrators that have to be convinced.
I wouldn't change a single thing about QB64. Well...as a Mac user, I would prefer to be able to use CMD+C/V instead of CTRL+C/V to copy and paste, and it would be nice if the cursor always went to the end of a line or inside the text where I clicked it instead of just EXACTLY where I clicked on the screen, but those are minor issues. I certainly wouldn't want to mess with the name. I just need to figure out a name that the K-12 people will accept as a curriculum name. They wouldn't even know HOW to care what made it work (i.e., QB64). I also need to find or create a more polished and modern IDE with all kinds of helpful features very similar to Kite (kite.com) for Python.
I've considered Davs IDE, but as far as I know, it only works for Windows. I would need to compile it for Raspi and Mac at the very least. Otherwise, it sounds ideal!
:@)
