Oh, Topeka. Don't ever change.

Last night, the city where I spent the first 12 years of my life decided to change its name from "Topeka" to "Google", apparently in a desperate (very desperate) bid to be the real Google's 1 gigabit-per-second fiber optic broadband guinea pig. I'm not sure which is more embarrassing: That this happened at all, or the fact that the city didn't have the cojones to go all in on their stalkery behavior—the name change is not legally binding and only lasts for the month of March. Ahhhhhh, Kansas.

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

Maggie goes places and talks to people. Find out where she'll be speaking next.

MORE: Business

More at Boing Boing

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Hackers prepare for first "national holiday" in their honor

daneyul

What’s the big deal–it’s temporary, it may help them get some benefits for the city, and it’s just a freaking name. Lighten up, and appreciate the whimsy of it. Sheesh.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Lighten up, and appreciate the whimsy of it.
  
  If you think fellating a big corporation for money and publicity is whimsy, you need a new dictionary.
  - daneyul
    
    If you think temporarily changing your name equates to oral sex, you’re doing it wrong. Again, sheesh. Lighten up already.
  - Tdawwg
    
    Another book or two wouldn’t hurt.
Anonymous

This happened before, in Truth or Consequences, N.Mex. The town, originally named Hot Springs, changed its name in 1950 to attract a radio quiz show.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_or_Consequences,_New_Mexico
GuidoDavid

I love Kim Stanley Robinson, but Future Shock is not gone. Come on, this looks straight out of Brunner novel, or maybe Stephenson.
Science Fiction is coming to this world, and not always as we expect.

I embrace it, it makes life less monotonous.
Roman Gypsy

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/different-kind-of-company-name.html

For April fools, Google recognized this and changed its own name to honour the move.
lucyrickyalex

Well, it worked for Truth or Consequences, NM…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_or_Consequences,_New_Mexico
Jesse in Japan

While we’re at it, can we move the capital to Lawrence?
zandar

Maggie, as a Jefferson Citian, I can say you are absolutely right, this town would never adopt the name of Google, even for some high-speed fiber networking.

Locals pride themselves for having no sense of humor, or of adventure, or advocating anything interesting whatsoever for that matter. :( Though it is now legal to operate a tattoo parlor within city limits. yay, progress…?
Hagrid

Oh great. Now we here in Bellingham, Washington need to change our city’s name to 10^100, Washington in order to compete for the Google Fiber!
Anonymous

Cool! After that, they should change the name to Phelpsburg!
Anonymous

just be glad they’re not courting business from Preperation H or Valtrex
the_dza

What is it that makes our bid so desperate, Maggie? There are 11,000 of us that have signed on to get Google’s attention. We meet or exceed every requirement of the Google Fiber Experiment. Perhaps it’s a simple case of “haters gotta hate”?
- Maggie Koerth-Baker
  
  Dude, it’s a capital city playing a marketing game usually reserved for tiny towns in the middle of nowhere that nobody’s ever heard of.
  
  In other words: Respect yourselves, fools. Even Jefferson City is too proud for this nonsense. ;)
  - the_dza
    
    It appears that you and a lot of the readers are missing the point. The primary purpose of the proclamation was to show support for the grassroots efforts of our citizens, the City and County leaders. We’re not foregoing our heritage or playing sycophant. We’re clutching onto opportunity and progress. The name change is a stunt and a goof. It has garnered us media attention from around the country and it’s been fun. There is an air of not only respect but pride in what is growing in Topeka. Artist cooperatives, community gardens, revitalization of downtown and now a bid for the fastest Internet infrastructure on the planet make Topeka, I mean Google, KS the kind of place that I am proud to call home. Comparing us to Jeff City, that is some world class hatin’.
chip

It’s not exactly a new concept. DISH, TX did it several years ago, and that was just for free satellite TV. I’d gladly change my name to Google in exchange for gigabit fiber. Sure as hell beats Comcast.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-17-dish-texas_x.htm
grikdog

What a great idea! Maybe Wichita could change it’s name to Torvalds? Or Salina to Nokia? Or Dodge City to Beemerville?
arefcee

What you all have mistaken for desperation I see as creativity. We’re having a lot of fun here in Topeka. Almost makes me sorry you haters are missing out.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  What you all have mistaken for desperation I see as creativity.
  
  That’s the part that fills me with horror.
Anonymous

It is reported that John Phillips Sousa’s favorite encore (in the 1890′s or so), was “The Roosters Lay Eggs in Kansas”. Seems that it might still apply!
Omir the Storyteller

Google Google Kansas and see what comes up.

I sense a rewriting of “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” in the works.
jphilby

Besides which, ever since “A Boy and His Dog”, Topeka has wet-dreamed of getting rid of that turbid stain on its innocence and dignity.
Anonymous

If they get the gigabit, will we have to remove evolution from the internet?
Tdawwg

It’s sad, too, to see Topeka consider foregoing the city’s native history through this dastardly switch. Topeka is likely from the Kansa (a Siouan language) toppik’e, literally, “a good place to grow potatoes.” That’s America for you: we did our damnedest to destroy Native culture, and then either appropriated their names for our warcraft and sportsteams (Tomahawk missiles, the Atlanta Braves, etc.) or, as in this case, swept them under the rug, forever, through Anglicizing them or simply obliterating them. So sad that now it’s Google’s potato patch.
Anonymous

Where?
CCinBmore

Image my disappointment when I searched for “Google Kansas” in Google maps and it didn’t direct me to the former location of Topeka. I assume they will correct this glaring error promptly.
Antinous / Moderator

The more important question is why the linked article used an image from The Wizard of Oz instead of from The Harvey Girls.
Anonymous

I think this is a VERY fun way for the city of Topeka to bring awareness to the citizens so they can get the word out to go nominate their city. Silly as it may be, it’s a brilliant way to draw community awareness to this cool movement. Go Topeka! Way to draw more attention to your bid for this experiment than all the other cities!
Smarsh

If this was Topeka’s only ploy to get Google’s attention for the fiber project, yes, then it would be a desperate attempt. However Topeka citizens and officials have been hard at work for weeks, completing nominations, making videos and signs, and more all showing Google what a great fit Topeka would be. Being Google, Kansas for a month is a FUN, light-hearted move that shows the city is truly supportive of this effort. It’s an unusual move, but I couldn’t be prouder of my city right now.
AstroLad

Personally, I like the idea. Kansas gets a bad rap and something like the Google experiment would be perfect for them to help loose the “flyover state” mentality.

I also think the rename is a fun idea to help them get noticed and I’m surprised that some people seem to be against a community trying to better itself. Maybe I shouldn’t be.
nanuq

Considering Google’s finances, I’m amazed that they’re not holding out for their own country. I’m sure Iceland would consider it…
apollonia666

I used to live nearby in Lawrence, and I won’t ever forget when Pokemon was introduced in the U.S. back in 1998 because Topeka changed its name for a day to ToPikachu. Seriously:
http://cjonline.com/stories/082798/com_pokemoninvasion.shtml
- Hagrid
  
  I was going to comment on the ToPikachu incident, also! This isn’t the first time Topeka has engaged in this kind of name-changing game.
  
  As a native Kansan (expatriate), and a Topekan by birth,
  Google Kansas, I salute you!
Lizzle

The Atchison, Google and Santa Fe just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?
aeroplane

State capital tests across the country will have to be corrected as Google, Kansas. AWESOME.
- Felton
  
  Not to mention the Animaniacs’ state capitol song would be out of date.
  
  On that note, there’s a tiny town in Georgia called Dacula. I’ve always wished they’d go ahead and rename it Dracula.
  - efergus3
    
    If it makes you feel any better, there is a Transylvania (through the woods), Louisiana in the northeastern part of the state.
    - Felton
      
      Haha! I wonder if there’s a Vlad the Impaler, Mississippi. If not, there should be.