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Former Apple advertising lead Ken Segall was at an event for the University of Arizona's Department of Marketing tonight and in giving the latest version of his "Insanely Simple" talk revealed some of the names Apple considered for its smartphone before settling on "iPhone", reports 9to5Mac.

The proposed names included "TelePod," "Mobi," "TriPod" and "iPad." Segall also presented the name "MicroMac" to his audience, but insisted that it was not under consideration and that he wanted to gauge their thoughts on the name. In past versions of the talk, Segall has presented "PocketMac" as the outlier option that was not actually considered.

Segall went on to explain the thought process of the names:

- TelePod: Segall said Apple considered this name because it sounded like a "futuristic twist" on the word "telephone." The "Pod" part obviously came about from the success of the iPod.

- Mobi: This name was in consideration not only because it was a creative take on the word "mobile," but that it also had personality, Segall said.

- TriPod: When Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone, he famously referred to it as three devices in one: an iPod, an Internet device and a phone. This name likely had an impact on that presentation and represents the three "legs" that the iPhone was built on.

- iPad: This eventually became the name of Apple's tablet line, but Segall said it was under consideration for the company's smartphone product as well. Steve Jobs did confirm that Apple had been working on a tablet before it started working on a phone, and that the tablet had internally been codenamed "Safari Pad."

Of course, Apple eventually settled on the name "iPhone". At the time, Cisco actually held the U.S. trademark for iPhone for a line of VoIP handsets, but the two companies eventually reached a trademark agreement over the name.

Article Link: Former Apple Ad Man Says Apple Considered Calling the iPhone the 'TriPod', 'TelePod', 'Mobi', or 'iPad'
 

SkippyThorson

macrumors 68000
Jul 22, 2007
1,662
917
Utica, NY
I couldn't imagine any other way; not without that instantly recognizable, iconic name. :)

Someone made the right call. The iPad name just wouldn't have been the same. Not only because iPhone was just right, but because it would have stolen the name from the yet-to-come tablet. What would it have been if it weren't iPad?

Always interesting hearing these backstories. Thanks MacRumors!
 

GenesisST

macrumors 68000
Jan 23, 2006
1,802
1,055
Where I live
Hindsight...

Had it been called the "iBzlourged(tm)", that would be what everybody would want and know. That said, iPhone is still the best name out of that list. :)
 

the8thark

macrumors 601
Apr 18, 2011
4,628
1,735
Actually iPhone was the only good name.

iMac = internet Macintosh so the iPhone = internet Phone was a logical step to make for the phone's name.

Yes the i stands for internet.
 

rei101

macrumors 6502a
Dec 24, 2011
976
1
But the screw it with something called "Mac Book Pro", what a complicated name, is like going off road on a jeep and trying to talk.

iPhone was good.
 

Primejimbo

macrumors 68040
Aug 10, 2008
3,295
131
Around
Actually iPhone was the only good name.

iMac = internet Macintosh so the iPhone = internet Phone was a logical step to make for the phone's name.

Yes the i stands for internet.

I love how companies put "i" in front of stuff for their products and they have nothing to do with the internet.

iMattress... really??
 

HarryKeogh

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2008
609
863
Hindsight...

Had it been called the "iBzlourged(tm)", that would be what everybody would want and know. That said, iPhone is still the best name out of that list. :)

Agreed.

If they called it the "Mobi" years ago and MacRumors put out a story stating that, at one point, Apple considered calling it the "iPhone" we'd be saying "thank goodness, they didn't pick that name!"
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,544
6,042
I seem to recall a time everyone here hated the names iPod and iPad, but we've come to love those names, have we not?

Although I think iPhone and iTV were names that always made sense and we always liked.

AppleTV is still a bit of a mouth full... I don't think they refer to any other product they have as an "Apple" anything, do they?
 

shurcooL

macrumors 6502a
Jan 24, 2011
938
117
Notice how the word "phone" sounds way cooler today than "telephone". I'm surely that's largely to us being used to the iPhone.

Had it been named TelePod or something else, saying "phone" today might've sounded as lame as "telephone".
 

johncrab

macrumors 6502
Aug 11, 2011
341
0
Scottsdale, AZ
Kirk to Scotty......Kirk to Scotty...Come in Scotty.....Where are you Scotty.....

Oh yeah, the iPhone works. The S-T communicators seldom did.
 

lucasfer899

macrumors 6502
Sep 23, 2012
432
2
London
I seem to recall a time everyone here hated the names iPod and iPad, but we've come to love those names, have we not?

Although I think iPhone and iTV were names that always made sense and we always liked.

AppleTV is still a bit of a mouth full... I don't think they refer to any other product they have as an "Apple" anything, do they?

Well, there was "Apple Cinema Display" but that product is kinda dead now.

Actually, found this!
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
What exactly does "Apple considered" mean? Names that were written down during a brainstorming session? And clearly all these are names that Apple considered not good enough.


I seem to recall a time everyone here hated the names iPod and iPad, but we've come to love those names, have we not?

I don't think anyone hated them. There were quite a lot of people with a mental age of at most 10 who _loved_ the name iPad, just for the wrong reason :)
 

3282868

macrumors 603
Jan 8, 2009
5,281
0
Could have sworn Jobs also suggested "Magic Phone", although that could very well have been a joke.

I still liked "iMobile".
 

verniesgarden

macrumors 65816
May 29, 2007
1,276
1,079
Saint Louis, Mo
But the screw it with something called "Mac Book Pro", what a complicated name, is like going off road on a jeep and trying to talk.

iPhone was good.

What's funny is that apple uses a very "news speak" naming convention for products, especially interesting due to the 1984 commercial.
 

dBeats

macrumors 6502a
Jun 21, 2011
637
214
I think we are all moving towards the "Tri-corder".

Beam me up Scotty!

I was going to post that I think they missed why they considered triPod. Steve Jobs once famously said, "Just give me Star Trek" and I'm pretty sure the triPod reference was to the tricorder, not that it was three in one device.
 

Schmitty11

macrumors 6502
May 21, 2011
309
0
Actually iPhone was the only good name.

iMac = internet Macintosh so the iPhone = internet Phone was a logical step to make for the phone's name.

Yes the i stands for internet.

What about the Original iPods? Before the Touch and iphone and what not?
 

baryon

macrumors 68040
Oct 3, 2009
3,875
2,922
This shows how damn important it is to name your product right. iPhone just makes complete sense, and everything you need to know is in the name: it's made by Apple and it's a phone.

vs. something meaningless like "Galaxy S III", which might as well be the name for a space telescope.
 

sitsonthefence

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2012
46
5
London, UK
Notice how the word "phone" sounds way cooler today than "telephone". I'm surely that's largely to us being used to the iPhone.

Had it been named TelePod or something else, saying "phone" today might've sounded as lame as "telephone".

I'm sure I called the phone a phone long before the iPhone? Wasn't it just cooler to shorten everything?
 
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Solomani

macrumors 601
Sep 25, 2012
4,785
10,477
Slapfish, North Carolina
Doesn't everyone remember the first day the original iPad was officially announced, and the entire Apple-hating media pundits said that iPad was the worst possible name, and then all the Maxipad and tampon jokes started going viral?
 
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