Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 July 21

= July 21 =

OverDrive's name
Does anyone know how OverDrive, Inc. got its name? I can't find any information on it from a quick search of their website and WP's article. Thanks. 151.132.206.26 (talk) 00:22, 21 July 2015 (UTC)


 * This article from 1988 seems to imply that the original company was "Turbosoft" and "Overdrive" was a product. I found here that "Turbosoft" and "Overdrive" were trademarks owned by "Turbo Law Laboratories, Inc". Finally this link shows that the company was previously called "Potash & Nigbor - Legal Applications, Inc." M. Steve Potash is the founder and CEO of Overdrive and was apparently a lawyer who according to this article, practiced with "Potash & Podor Co., L.P.A." Richard-of-Earth (talk) 07:54, 21 July 2015 (UTC)


 * And for those too young to remember, an overdrive was additional gear unit for high performance cars before the days of five-speed gearboxes, so "going into overdrive" was what you did when you wanted to cruise at high speed. Alansplodge (talk) 12:53, 21 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Not necessarily just "high performance" cars - my Dad had an Austin 1100 with overdrive in the early 1960s. It was activated by a lever on the steering wheel (like the ones used to work indicators). AndrewWTaylor (talk) 14:00, 21 July 2015 (UTC)


 * I stand corrected. I used to drive my sister's Morris 1300 in the 1970s but if it had one, I never found out how to use it. Alansplodge (talk) 19:06, 21 July 2015 (UTC)


 * And many cars with automatic transmissions had automatic overdrive. They often had a D with a circle around it (an O), or sometimes a rounded square, which meant overdrive was available.  I think it had more to do with fuel economy than "going fast", however: .  Note that overdrive was only engaged at high speeds, though, hence the association with high speed.  StuRat (talk) 15:57, 21 July 2015 (UTC)


 * So why was this company/product given this name? Why “Overdrive”? —67.14.236.50 (talk) 17:19, 24 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Presumably to make people think they are fast. StuRat (talk) 17:53, 24 July 2015 (UTC)
 * To "go into overdrive" is an idiom meaning ""to start working with a lot of effort" or "overdrive" as a noun can mean "the state of high or excessive activity or productivity or concentration", both of which would be desirable qualities. Also "drive" fits nicely with their IT specialisation. Alansplodge (talk) 18:16, 25 July 2015 (UTC)