Yo, would a rose by another name smell as sweet?
It only matters if it matters. This can be illustrated with Shanti differentiating his wares with unique names like Black Widow in place of White Widow and Medicine man in place of White Rhino.
What matters are things like pedigree, vintage, and quality. A name will only hold significance as a marker of the aforementioned when measures of strict adherence are placed upon it and they are able to be enforced or objectively reviewed. This can be relating to marketing of buds in a dispensary to the marketing of seeds on an online novelty merchant shop.
While not exactly the same but as a crude example easy to digest for Redditors, Kobe beef. Kobe beef has strict requirements as to what will or will not qualify as real Kobe beef. Similar practices can be seen in wine or cheese producing regions of France, and such practices are aimed in differentiating an original from potential imposters only seeking to use the acclaim of a name in lieu of replicating the same quality, which in itself would be a topic all it's own.
Less do I wonder about the names mattering, and more do I wonder about the motives behind others actions and how they relate to such topics. Even then, I try not to give them much thought.
Just curious, did homeboy in the article you link to get paid for that sort of effort? I'm thinking of taking my talents to HTML, so to speak.
As for dispensaries, they've helped me figure out how businesses like 7-11 stay open. The average consumer is fucking clueless/complacent and doesn't seek to become more informed in the slightest beyond what the seemingly professional behind the counter/register parrots off to them. It's rather pitiful that most dispensaries don't seem to have the inclination to educate their customers and start setting industry standards, though I'm inclined to believe that they are just as clueless and just in it for the money, otherwise a pride of quality within honesty would surely be paramount.
Someone whom I would enjoy hearing speak on such topics, Breeder Steve from the now defunct Spice of Life seed company.
While I get it, when someone talks about a strain of marijuanas I know what they are referring to, they are talking about a variety of cannabis. Still, I find it hard to take others seriously when they present compositions as professionals and continue to speak in antiquated ways. I find it a disservice to progression in the same ways dispensaries and/or seed makers label their wares with inaccurate names or titles.
While the author used the word variety more than once, I don't think they did a very sound job at distinguishing what a variety actually is to the layperson as they relate to strains. Then again, nomenclature camps vary and such is life.
The author does indeed bring up a worthwhile discussion topic, though in my opinion, their means of delivering the message was lacking.