Blame BMW. Or maybe Sears, Roebuck & Co. The trend of classifying all your products into clearly defined low, middle, and high ranges has now extended its grasp to MIPS Technologies.

Carmakers figured out a long time ago that it would help sell cars if consumers could keep all the confusing model numbers straight. Thus, General Motors had its Chevrolet brand (low end), its Buicks (midrange), and its Cadillacs (high end). That branding strategy served the company quite well, even when all three cars were actually the same vehicle with different hood ornaments.

Same goes for BMW: they’ve got the 3-series, the 5-series, and the 7-series. Mercedes-Benz followed suit a few years later with its C-class, E-class, and S-class. (Never mind today’s confusing array of M-class, CLK, CL, SLK, CLS, MLK, G, GLK, SL, SLS, R-class, and more.) Even mainstream American department stores like Sears bluntly labeled their products, “Good,” “Better”, and “Best.” Not much room for confusion there.