Dreaming Androids vrs the Nexus One

As mentioned in the blog yesterday Google have finally put out some hardware with their name on it; the Nexus One is currently the flagship Android device which is being used as the development handset within Google HQ.

Within Philip K. Dick’s book ‘Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?’, which was turned into the film ‘Blade Runner’ the main character is hunting a set of escaped cyborgs with the model number Nexus 6… Spotting any similarities? Dick’s dauguter, Isa Dick Hackett, has made the claim that Google have pretty much lifted the name Nexus right out of the book saying:

“Google takes first and then deals with the fallout later… In my mind, there is a very obvious connection to my father 's novel. People don 't get it. It 's the principle of it. It would be nice to have a dialogue. We are open to it. That 's a way to start."

This isn’t the first time that Google have used names from works that they respect; Google Wave is named, and several error messages are taken, from Jos Whedon’s FireFly television series, however Google are claiming nothing of the sort. Instead Google have responded simply saying that the word Nexus is taken straight from the dictionary - “a place where things converge”, rather than a cyborg that wants to kill you!

Personally I don’t see this one being lost by Google, however what do you think? Should Google pay up?