The Death of Apple's 'i'

Apple has had a long history considering the company was founded in 1976. And during that period, we have seen changes in the design of its products, but most people have not noticed the subtle change in the way Apple names its products. products. If you were an Apple fan in the early 2000s, you might have used an iMac, iBook, or iPod. But Apple fans today could be using an Apple Watch, an Apple TV, or an Apple Pencil. And while there are still products from what I call the "i" era, like the iPhone and iPad, it's worth exploring how Apple's product naming strategy has changed over the past two decades and learning why those were made. changes.

I'm Greg with Apple Explained and I want to thank Ting for sponsoring this video. If you want to help decide what topics I cover, make sure you're subscribed and voting polls like this will appear in your mobile activity feed. Now, before we talk about Apple's naming strategy today, I want to take a look back and explain how it evolved throughout the company's history. Apple's first computer, created by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs in 1976, was called Apple I. Its successor, released a year later, was called Apple II. It turned out to be one of the most influential computers of that period and provided Apple with a steady stream of income for the next decade.

And they would need it, as the company attempted to create a follow-up computer in 1980 called the Apple III, which was aimed primarily at the business market. But it failed miserably, selling only 70,000 units during its lifetime, 20% of which were defective. At that time, Apple shifted its focus to other projects such as the Macintosh. Now the Macintosh project had been in the works since 1979 and was initially led by Jef Raskin, the person responsible for naming the product. And the reason Raskin chose the name Macintosh is because that was his favorite type of Apple. Now, if he is familiar with

apple

s, he may be wondering why Jef Raskin misspelled the word Macintosh, since the McIntosh fruit is spelled without an 'a'.

Well, as it turns out, the team decided to add the 'a'. to avoid trademark disputes with an audio company called McIntosh Laboratory. But unfortunately that slight spelling difference didn't save Apple from trademark infringement. Steve Jobs was so desperate to keep the name that he wrote a letter to the McIntosh Laboratory, asking permission to use the word Macintosh for his computer, since the team had become too attached to the name. But the president of McIntosh Labs denied Jobs' request. Finally, in 1983, Apple was able to license the name and then in 1986, they purchased the brand for $100,000. Which today is equivalent to almost a quarter of a million dollars.

That explains why the revolutionary Apple computer of 1984 was called the Macintosh instead of the Apple IV. And that marked a very significant point in the company's history, as most of its subsequent machines would continue to use the Mac name. Now, there were exceptions starting in the early '90s, when Apple called its first laptop the PowerBook name. But in the late '90s, with the return of Steve Jobs, the company continued to leave the Mac name off its laptops with the introduction of the iBook. But it is very important to understand why this decision was made.

Because looking back today, it seems strange that Jobs would name a laptop iBook instead of MacBook, especially when he was part of the original Macintosh team that fought to secure the name. But you have to consider the iBook in the context of Apple's product line at the time. Because a year before its launch, Apple had presented the iMac. Which, at the time, became the most successful product in the company's history and helped save it from bankruptcy. And considering that the iMac was the first product to use the 'i' prefix, it would make sense for Apple to capitalize on the name's popularity by using the lowercase 'i' on other products like the iBook, which was marketed as an on-the-go iMac.

Adopting its translucency, colors and bulbous design. It also had a built-in handle like the iMac. Now, if you're wondering why Apple chose the name iMac in the first place, it's because the "i" was supposed to stand for Internet, which is what the iMac was primarily created for. But additional meanings were attributed to the letter, as an individual, to instruct, to inform and to inspire. It's also worth noting that the name was created by Ken Segall with the Chiat/Day advertising agency. And at first Steve Jobs didn't like it. Instead, he suggested the name MacMan, which he found particularly attractive.

But no one else did, and Segall said the name made his blood run cold. Then, the next week, Jobs was presented with more names to choose from, but he rejected them all. From then on, the advertising agency heard nothing directly from Apple, but they did have friends who told them that Jobs was testing the iMac name on computer prototypes. Trying to decide if it looked good or not. And apparently it was, because the final product was called the iMac, which surprised Segall. He said: “He rejected it twice but then it turned up at the machine. He never formally accepted it.” But one thing I think most people would be more than happy to accept is paying less for your phone bill with Ting.

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Its music player launched in 2001 was called iPod, its smartphone launched in 2007 was called iPhone, and its tablet launched in 2010 was called iPad. The 'i' prefix became so strongly associated with Apple that they actually filed for a trademark for the letter, arguing that no other company should be able to use it since customers will think those products are made by Apple. But their case failed in 2010, when the court stated that “a person of ordinary intelligence and memory” would not assume that just because a product has the letter “i,” it was made by Apple. And that's when things started to get interesting.

Because 2010 is the time when Apple stopped using the 'i' for new products. For example, in 2015 the company launched the Apple Watch. A product that many expected to be called "iWatch." In fact, Tim Cook was asked this exact question during an interview with David Rubenstein. He said: “Why was it called Apple Watch and not iWatch? Because you have iPhone, iPod, iPad. Why not iWatch?” Cook responded: "It was something we thought about at the time, but I like the Apple Watch, what do you think?" So while we didn't get any real insight from that lack of response, I think it suggests that Apple is simply moving in a different direction when it comes to its naming strategy.

They could have called it iWatch, but they chose Apple Watch. And I think one of the reasons is that the name Apple is trademarked, while the prefix "i" is not. So when a customer buys a smartwatch and sees the name Apple Watch, there is no doubt who makes the product. This is also an effective branding strategy that forces customers to directly associate a product with a company. For example, when I was young, many of my friends didn't know about the Apple company, but they all knew about the iPod. So maybe if it had been called Apple Music Player instead of iPod, there would have been more brand awareness among my peers.

Now, this type of naming strategy is nothing new for Apple. Do you remember the iBook? Well, that product no longer exists. Apple replaced the iBook with the MacBook in 2006. Steve Jobs even gave a reason for the name change, saying, "We wanted all of our computers to have the word Mac on them." This is also why they replaced the PowerBook with the MacBook Pro the same year. And that same naming approach is being applied today. We have the Apple Pencil instead of iPencil, Apple Card instead of iCard and Apple TV instead of iTV. Although I should be clear that the Apple TV was introduced in 2006 and really shouldn't be included in the transition from "i" to "Apple" that is happening today.

Mainly because Apple wanted to call the product iTV, and internally referred to it as such until a few weeks before its launch. Its name was changed to Apple TV at the last minute due to a copyright dispute with a British television network of the same name. That's why, if you look at the preview from 2006, Steve Jobs introduced the product as iTV. But when they realized they couldn't win the trademark dispute, they were forced to use the name Apple TV. But that could be considered a happy accident for the company, as the Apple TV appears to have started a naming strategy across Apple's product line that came in handy after they failed to secure branding with the "i" prefix three years later. .

And it's pretty clear when Apple made the decision to stop using “i,” with the iPad in 2010 being the last product to feature the prefix. But this change did not only apply to hardware, it also extended to Apple software. In iOS 11.3, Apple renamed the iBooks app simply to "Books." In 2015, the iPhotos app on macOS became Photos. And finally, in macOS Catalina, Apple completely rewrote the iTunes app and called it Music. Therefore, it is quite undeniable that Apple is no longer interested in the "i" suffix. But this raises a problem: what will happen to your existing i-products? Two of which are the most successful in Apple's history, the iPhone and the iPad.

Well, there are a few possibilities based on how Apple has handled these situations in the past. First, Apple can change product names when a new version is released, just like with the iBook and PowerBook. The iPhone could become the Apple Phone in the near future. But considering how recognizable the iPhone name has become globally, I doubt it will change. That brings me to the second possibility. Apple could simply keep the names as is until a completely new product cannibalizes them. Similar to what happened with the iPod. Apple introduced the iPhone and caused iPod sales to decline so dramatically that most models were eventually discontinued.

Or, finally, Apple can keep the “i” on its existing products and simply avoid the prefix on new products, as has been the case until now. Alright guys, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.