Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!tank!eecae!netnews.upenn.edu!linc.cis.upenn.edu!rubinoff
From: rubinoff@linc.cis.upenn.edu (Robert Rubinoff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: The Answer (Re: Hypercard 1.2.5?  Waaaaiit A Second)
Message-ID: <14799@netnews.upenn.edu>
Date: 27 Sep 89 20:53:02 GMT
References: <35049@apple.Apple.COM> <1081@cbnewsk.ATT.COM>
Sender: news@netnews.upenn.edu
Reply-To: rubinoff@linc.cis.upenn.edu (Robert Rubinoff)
Organization: University of Pennsylvania
Lines: 20

In article <1081@cbnewsk.ATT.COM> ech@cbnewsk.ATT.COM (ned.horvath) writes:
>From article <35049@apple.Apple.COM>, by chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach):
>>> - 1.2.4 wasn't used because it would be too obvious that
>>> . they were just skipping 1.2.3.
>
>> Nope. 4 is an unlucky number in Japan, so Gassee and the Hypercard team
>> decided to skip it.
>
>Ye gods.  We finally get Nancy's astrologer out of the White House...

My understanding is that the word for "4" is also the word for "death"
in Japanese.  (I can't remember whether it's the
pronunciation or the written form or both.)  So it's just that
Japanese are reluctant to buy a product labelled "Version 1.2.Death"
This is perhaps not the most rational thing in the world, but it's not all
that unreasonable, especially since they had already skipped version 1.2.3.
It's sort of like when Chevy discoverd they had to change the name of the
"Nova" in order to successfully sell it in Latin America.

   Robert