[edge10]

I thought a Zepplin had to be made by Zepplin? Wouldn’t this ‘just’ be an airship or blimp?

All colas are not Coke.

[MeanWestTexan]

zepplins have a metal frame.

Blimps are funny shaped baloons.

[Mike Fieschko]

I thought a Zepplin had to be made by Zepplin? Wouldn’t this ‘just’ be an airship or blimp?

Blimps aren't rigid. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin got a patent for his design in 1895, for a rigid airship (airship would be the generic term for blimps and zeppelins) with a rigid metal alloy skeleton, made of rings and longitudinal girders. I don't think the terms 'zeppelin' was ever trademarked like 'bandaid' or 'xerox', so the word is applied to examples of his design.

[Little Ray]

It would be “just a dirigible.” However, due to popular ignorance, all rigid airships are zeppelins, just as all facial tissue is “kleenex” and all copiers are "xerox."

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

It is a Zeppelin — made by the Zeppelin company. The name should probably always be capitalized, so that it's not mistaken for a generic term. Airships comprise blimps (no supporting structure), dirigibles (some sort of supporting structure). Zeppelins are a brand of dirigible. The “NT” is justified — these New Technology Zeppelins bear little resemblance (besides the shape) to the Hindenburg.

I'm a huge fan of airships; if I were rich enough, I'd have one of these Zeppelins parked in my back yard.