1. La referencia a Tolkien y la connotación negativa.
El nombre de la empresa, Palantir, evoca inmediatamente a los orbes de visión utilizados por Sauron en "El Señor de los Anillos", generando una asociación negativa con la vigilancia y el control.
- "wait. Palantir?? that's the name of the company?? does anyone else get the lotr reference or am i taking bonkers pills?? because we should all be informed that this was a tool of f*cking sauron.".
- "the name of the company is a warning. Not to wave my nerd card around, but the palantir was used in the lord of the rings by saruman to communicate with sauron, who manipulated him, all while believing himself to be in control.".
- "the funny thing about palantir is that it's a really evil thing in lotr and it's what they called their company knowing they'd be be doing evil stuff.".
2. Vigilancia y control: la percepción del público.
Muchos usuarios expresan preocupación por la naturaleza de la empresa como herramienta de vigilancia masiva, comparándola con el "ojo de Sauron".
- "can we just take a moment to appreciate how fantastically ominous it is to name your mass surveillance company "palantir"?".
- "it’s worth noting that “palantir” were the crystal balls that sauron spied on middle earth with in the lord of the rings books. It was quite an evil device, much like the application being used to track and profile every american.".
- "palantir. The evil all seeing stones used by sauron. The name is a perfect fit for a surveillance company run by a asshole tech billionaire.".
3. Peter Thiel y la controversia política.
La figura de Peter Thiel, fundador de Palantir, genera controversia debido a sus inclinaciones políticas y su relación con figuras como Donald Trump.
- "palantir is one of peter thiel's companies. I'm convinced he called it that because he's exactly like the evil white wizard saruman from lord of the rings.".
- "thiel’s palantir is falling under the control of trump.".
- "peter thiel named his company palantir after the stones in lord of the rings, a magical technology developed by others but repurposed as the tools of evil wizards. Not that this is relevant or anything.".
4. La apropiación de Tolkien y la reacción de los fans.
La utilización de nombres y conceptos de Tolkien por parte de empresas tecnológicas, especialmente aquellas relacionadas con la vigilancia y la defensa, genera irritación y rechazo entre los fans.
- "the appropriation of tolkien is so irritating. Although it's worth noting the palantir started off good but ended up being used for evil, so i guess it's an appropriate name for a tech company.".
- "my nerd brain can’t unthink of palantir as sauron’s corruptive device from lotr and how naming your company after that is what a dumbass edgelord would do.".
- "and now everyone understands why it kills us lotr nerds that he named a company palantir!!".
5. La ironía y la falta de sutileza.
Algunos usuarios señalan la ironía de nombrar una empresa de vigilancia con un término asociado al mal, mientras que otros critican la falta de sutileza en la elección del nombre.
- "naming a surveillance tech company “palantir” after the crystal balls in lord of the rings that sauron uses is so obviously broadcasting evil intentions that you’d be called heavy-handed if you were to write it into fiction.".
- "palantir ripped the name from lotr’s evil crystal balls saruman uses for surveillance. Subtle.".
- "i think it's funny anyone didn't realize palantir was founded to be pure evil. Tolkien's palantirs are corrupted and corrupt anyone who uses them.".