Apple's obsession with the letter i - why and when will they drop it?

[ss957916]

Seeing they've filed a patent for "iGroups" suggests that they're not planning on giving up on it yet. Personally, I find it really annoying and dated to have iTunes on my iMac to sync iPhoto, iMovie and iWork with my iPhone etc. etc.

So what does the i mean and why do they choose not to use it on random things (like Safari, Mail and MacBooks etc.).

And am I the only one that wants to see it put to bed now?

 

[eawmp1]

Yeah! And I think Coke should get rid of that stupid contoured bottle.

 

[bobr1952]

And am I the only one that wants to see it put to bed now?

It's possible...

 

[dukebound85]

Yeah! And I think Coke should get rid of that stupid contoured bottle.

ooook that was helpful..

It was used firstly for the original imac where the "i" stood for internet

Now it is more of a trademark but Apple has moved away from it in some of their product lines (ibook comes to mind)

When people hear "i" something, they think of Apple. Brand recognition is important

 

[ArrowSmith]

Too late the public mind share has been captured with iProduct naming convention. So Apple will ride this iThing to the end of time.

 

[ss957916]

Too late the public mind share has been captured with iProduct naming convention. So Apple will ride this iThing to the end of time.

So its odd they have Macbooks, Mac Pros, Aperture, Final Cut etc. At least Coca-Cola make sure that ALL their bottles/logos have that unique shape rather than just some of them.

 

[eawmp1]

Funky/design and or consumer products get the "i". All else, not so much. Just like the contoured bottle, one sees "i-_____", one thinks Apple (or knock off).

 

[Aldaris]

show me an "i"

The 'i' came into play with the iMac, first being referenced to the internet... Really that is what the 'i' originally was in reference to. It was the first mac that had no floppy support, why? Because Steve knew that 1.4MB could be downloaded from the net.

The success of the 'iMac' has turned the 'i' into more or less an implied Apple trademark. Albeit, the original iPod had no internet link to it at all but look at it now. As for the iLife suite, or Mac OS X for that matter, all are integrated into the internet.

Now we have iMac, iPod (shuffle, nano, classic, touch), iPhone, iPad, iSight, etc that are so involved closely to the net. The 'i' is not going away anytime soon. With iBooks, iGroups... you can only imagine what the next 'i' is going to be.

 

[Aldaris]

So its odd they have Macbooks, Mac Pros, Aperture, Final Cut etc. At least Coca-Cola make sure that ALL their bottles/logos have that unique shape rather than just some of them.

Seen this?

Thats like iMac=Coke, MacBook=Diet Coke, MacPro=Cherry Coke(my favorite), iPod=Vanilla Coke, etc...

 

[Aldaris]

ooook that was helpful..

It was used firstly for the original imac where the "i" stood for internet

Now it is more of a trademark but Apple has moved away from it in some of their product lines (ibook comes to mind)

When people hear "i" something, they think of Apple. Brand recognition is important

Yeah!!! couldn't agree more. With the Intel transition, Steve wanted all the Computers to have the 'Mac' name on them, hence MacBook=iBook, MacBook Pro=PowerBook, Mac Pro=Power Mac...

 

[Rodimus Prime]

The 'i' came into play with the iMac, first being referenced to the internet... Really that is what the 'i' originally was in reference to. It was the first mac that had no floppy support, why? Because Steve knew that 1.4MB could be downloaded from the net.
.

You history is a little messed up there and you are thinking broad band speeds. Back then all we had was dial up for home computers. Dial speeds are around 10 min/megs so a 1.4meg file would take around 15 min to download and even then relatively few people had the internet.

To this day I will argue when apple dump the floppy it was to soon. Yes the floppy was clearly going to die off but at the time there was no good alternative to move files around from computer to computer. CD burners were still very costly and blanks were near impossible to find plus they also were not cheap.

USB flash drives did not exist yet and when those first came out they were very costly. Email was still text only and so no way to send them that way.

I am not arguing that the floppy was not dieing at the time but I am saying that at that time there was no replacement for it to move small files around.

 

[rdowns]

What an iWaste of an iThread.

 

[*LTD*]

Seems to work. It's making them money. Why drop it?

"i"Phone. iPhone. Brilliant. Simple, immediately recognizable, and communicates a boatload about the brand and who's behind it.

 

[Aldaris]

You history is a little messed up there and you are thinking broad band speeds. Back then all we had was dial up for home computers. Dial speeds are around 10 min/megs so a 1.4meg file would take around 15 min to download and even then relatively few people had the internet.

To this day I will argue when apple dump the floppy it was to soon. Yes the floppy was clearly going to die off but at the time there was no good alternative to move files around from computer to computer. CD burners were still very costly and blanks were near impossible to find plus they also were not cheap.

USB flash drives did not exist yet and when those first came out they were very costly. Email was still text only and so no way to send them that way.

I am not arguing that the floppy was not dieing at the time but I am saying that at that time there was no replacement for it to move small files around.

around 2000-2002 I was doing video work on a imac, old school G3 running off a T1 line, arguably, Apple thought (and probably thought right) that abandoning floppies would be more cost effective... so what is 15 minutes, grab a coke.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

around 2000-2002 I was doing video work on a imac, old school G3 running off a T1 line, arguably, Apple thought (and probably thought right) that abandoning floppies would be more cost effective... so what is 15 minutes, grab a coke.

iMac dump the floppy in 1998. Broad band just started becoming a common word in about year 2000 and I would say it became common for affluent people to have it in about year 2002-2003.

So you have a 2-4 year gap in there that there was no alternative. Again you are a little off on your history. Remember in 1998 not everyone had dial up yet and no way to even send email files over the internet. Hell inbox size was crap until google came along.

 

[LethalWolfe]

To this day I will argue when apple dump the floppy it was to soon. Yes the floppy was clearly going to die off but at the time there was no good alternative to move files around from computer to computer. CD burners were still very costly and blanks were near impossible to find plus they also were not cheap.

IIRC the iMac didn't even start shipping w/a CD burner until '00 or '01. I'm sure the makers of USB floppy drives loved those machines though.

Seems to work. It's making them money. Why drop it?

"i"Phone. iPhone. Brilliant. Simple, immediately recognizable, and communicates a boatload about the brand and who's behind it.

Yes, it a good thinking Apple came up with it.... oh wait...


Lethal

 

[*LTD*]

Yes, it a good thinking Apple came up with it.... oh wait...


Lethal

That isn't the point. Apple still decided they wanted THAT to be the name of their device. Trademark issues aside, Apple could have chosen another name. They went with iPhone. Their dispute with Cisco at the time is a different matter. They could have chosen some other name, trademarked or not.

 

[LethalWolfe]

That isn't the point. Apple still decided they wanted THAT to be the name of their device. Trademark issues aside, Apple could have chosen another name. They went with iPhone. Their dispute with Cisco at the time is a different matter. They could have chosen some other name, trademarked or not.

I'm not disagreeing that Apple really liked the name that Cisco had come up with years before. After iMac, iPod, iBook, etc., iPhone wasn't exactly a stroke of genius.


Lethal

 

[Rodimus Prime]

IIRC the iMac didn't even start shipping w/a CD burner until '00 or '01. I'm sure the makers of USB floppy drives loved those machines though.

It was not a USB floppy drive that Apple started putting out but a Com port one.

Also remember in 1998-1999 USB was a kind of unheard of thing. It was not until 2000 that USB started becoming more common place.

 

[Abstract]

When people hear "i" something, they think of Apple. Brand recognition is important

They also think, "Ugh...."

And Apple isn't the only product that now uses the "i" in the product name. I know it was popularised by Apple (but not used first by them either), but I just find the letter used with products that are gimmicky -- hence the gimmicky name.

And I don't think much of the name on Apple products either. It's tired. People may recognise it, but it's tired.

 

[pdjudd]

They also think, "Ugh...."

Cite please on who these "people" are.

And Apple isn't the only product that now uses the "i" in the product name. I know it was popularised by Apple (but not used first by them either), but I just find the letter used with products that are gimmicky -- hence the gimmicky name.

In any industry, brand recognition is one of the most valuable things. The market expects it by this point.

And I don't think much of the name on Apple products either. It's tired. People may recognise it, but it's tired.

To you. For many others I would wager that they don't care. For Apple, the recognition is all that matters.

 

[LethalWolfe]

In any industry, brand recognition is one of the most valuable things. The market expects it by this point.

Apple successfully moved away from PowerBook, PowerMac and iBook though so I think they could move away from 'i'-everything if they wanted to, but the question is what would they move to? You don't just change for the sake of change w/such a recognizable branding template.


Lethal

 

[pdjudd]

Apple successfully moved away from PowerBook, PowerMac and iBook though so I think they could move away from 'i'-everything if they wanted to, but the question is what would they move to? You don't just change for the sake of change w/such a recognizable branding template.


Lethal

I agree, but the notebooks naming had another well known name associated with Apple - Mac. One could argue that would not necessarily work with devices like the iPod and iPhone.

 

[nick9191]

Actually "i" never stood for just Internet.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BHPtoTctDY

 

[KeriJane]

Maybe they stick with iProducts because it makes them gobs and gobs of money.

If people stop buying iProducts they'll drop it like an iLoser.

But what's going to replace the familiar, much-maligned "i"?

Maybe an "a" for Apple? aPhone? aPad? aPod? aPro? aChoo?

Maybe an "m" for Mac? mPhone? mPod?

Or maybe an exotic letter like "z", "x" or "q"...

Have iFun,
Keri