Apple products seem to be mentioned by their name?

[Corndog5595]

Has anybody else noticed that whenever you are talking about an Apple product you own, you seem to mention it by name?

I will talk about my computer as a MacBook Pro instead of just “my laptop” and I will call my MP3 player an iPod touch instead of just an MP3 player.

This isn’t just an Apple product-owner thing either. Products are now (annoyingly) mentioned on television commercials as, “Compatible with all iPod’s and most MP3 players.” Has anybody else noticed and been annoyed by this?

 

[maflynn]

I say my droid phone, for my cell phone. Does that count?

 

[Corndog5595]

Sure. When things get popular, people seem to call them by their name. Sometimes this annoys me but it usually isn’t that bad.

This isn’t my HTC Desire 2 (or w/e), this is my Android. But I have a terrible Samsung Glyde so I just call it my phone.

 

[RawBert]

My tablet.... you're correct. It doesn't sound right.

Apple has done a great job at naming their products. Yes, even the iPad.

*Splat* Who threw that tomato?????!!!!

 

[Melrose]

It's called ubiquity. It's a fantastic tipping point of powerful branding and product identity. Kleenex, Q-tip... and now people (not the technically inclined, I grant you) call all MP3 players their "iPods"

It's a testament to Apple being able to handle their image and brand in a way 99% of corporations only can dream of doing.

 

[advres]

It's called ubiquity. It's a fantastic tipping point of powerful branding and product identity. Kleenex, Q-tip... and now people (not the technically inclined, I grant you) call all MP3 players their "iPods"

It's a testament to Apple being able to handle their image and brand in a way 99% of corporations only can dream of doing.

Xerox

 

[anjinha]

I still call my MacBook "laptop" and my iPhone "phone". iPod is still iPod though.

 

[Corndog5595]

well, i usually refer to it to my laptop also, but sometimes MacBook will slip out.

 

[Dane D.]

well, i usually refer to it to my laptop also, but sometimes MacBook will slip out.

I always refer to my Macs by their model name. Try doing that in the Windows world. The model name means nothing. I loved it when the first PowerPCs were out, if you used Macs, people knew what they had under the hood.

Apple is by far the best at marketing and branding their products. Compare that to those lame DELL TV commercials with different colors for their laptops. Did they even have a name?

With Apple products, it is a statement, a means of expressing what you have. With Windows stuff, well...I have x, y or z.

It is also a reflection of the person running Apple. Anybody ever see the interview of Steve Jobs where he states "Microsoft has no taste", that is the Windows world.

 

[djellison]

Biro, not ballpoint pen. Hoover, not vacuum cleaner. Xerox not Photocopier. Post-It, not sticky note.

Many many things get called by their brand specific title.

 

[Chundles]

Easier to say "MacBook Pro" than "HP Pavillion v100px-502 rev. c" or "Vaio TX400QXR32004GB-RED."

I reckon the other manufacturers would have better brand recognition if they just gave their laptops easier to remember names.

 

[Dane D.]

Biro, not ballpoint pen. Hoover, not vacuum cleaner. Xerox not Photocopier. Post-It, not sticky note.

Many many things get called by their brand specific title.

Funny you mention Hoover, I photographed all their vacuums from 1988 - 2003, for their POS cartons, sales sheets and trade show graphics. I grew up in North Canton and still work in the city, but we never used the word Hoover as a verb, it was always just the company name to us. Maybe elsewhere, but here we always used the term 'sweeper'.

 

[djellison]

They're all called Hoovers over in the UK. Used as noun and verb for vacuum cleaners / vacuuming.

Strange how some trade names stick in some places, but not others.

 

[R94N]

This isn’t just an Apple product-owner thing either. Products are now (annoyingly) mentioned on television commercials as, “Compatible with all iPod’s and most MP3 players.” Has anybody else noticed and been annoyed by this?

I think that's been caused by the iPod's popularity, and people are so stupid they don't realise an iPod is the same as an MP3 player so they have to say it