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"Apple Watch", not "iWatch"

C

Casstiel

macrumors member
Original poster
May 14, 2014
69
11
Anyone care to guess why the name "Apple Watch" was chosen over "iWatch"? iWatch sounds a little better to me.

Were there trademark issues? I remember the trademark issue with "iTV". Is Apple moving away from the i- prefix?
 
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I don't think it was a matter of trademarks Apple could probably buy just about any trademark short of Google and Coca-Cola.

I think Apple wants to move away from the i-everything.

Apple Pay
Apple Watch
Apple TV.. (new television product will be called this..)
iPad/iPhone will probably stay around (to iconic).

It will take awhile to get used too, even Tim slipped up and called it iWatch.
 
It's further simplification, and it combines two logos into one. It's especially good for things that are used in small spaces. Like the watch, or the Pay button. :apple:Pay couldn't be made anymore simple; the i is just redundant and doesn't add any information.

ithings-01_zps23b2ceb7.jpg
 
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mac.rumors said:
I find it very strange that they capitalized the device name (WATCH). Very un-Apple like!
Click to expand...

I was surprised to see that too.

But all caps has advantages. It works much better for alignment; the ascenders and descenders in lowercase make almost any position look wrong. I couldn't see the letters on the back being in lower case, it would look very messy.

Because the sensors take up the back, the apple logo couldn't be placed in the center as just about everyone would assume, so they needed a single logo that could fit somewhere else. :apple:WATCH was a good solution. Instead of every single mockup that starts with language to force a design, Apple designs first and then adapts it's language to the design. Very Apple like imo.

ScreenShot2014-09-10at30748PM_zps88efbc3b.png
 
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I suspect it's partly because they want to market this as a lifestyle/luxury/premium product and they may think the i- prefix is too toy-like at this point.

----------
JayLenochiniMac said:
iWatch sounds silly if you think about it, as in "I watch" you.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think folks would get over that pretty quickly. "iPad" sounded pretty silly for a short while too.
 
iPadPublisher said:
I think you're right. Time to move on. Build more value for the Apple brand.
Click to expand...

Yeah I also agree - it seems they want to move away from iStuff.

Everything gets old eventually. iThing is a 2000's brand (iMac was late 90s, but really it became popular with the iPod in 2001). Now it is 2014, and they push for something new.

Another reason might be to highlight that it is not just another iOS device in a different form factor.
 
I agree, how long before the apple logo is included in the iOS keyboard so we don't have to keep typing 'Apple'? Or do you think if you type 'apple watch' it will auto correct to 'WATCH' like it does now with iPad and iPhone etc.
 
I just think they wanted to avoid the verb situation, just as in iWatch or iPay - it would sound kind of stupid, they never had the combination of iVerb besides iWork.

Also I think since they have Apple Watch , Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition, I think the iCombination would not have really looked good.

Could have been just a decision instead of a real strategic shift.
 
Apple wanted to name it iWatch, but it sounds similar to iSwatch and Swatch was ready to go to court over it. In interviews, Tim Cook has slipped a couple times and said iWatch by mistake.
 
dannyyankou said:
Apple wanted to name it iWatch, but it sounds similar to iSwatch and Swatch was ready to go to court over it. In interviews, Tim Cook has slipped a couple times and said iWatch by mistake.
Click to expand...

If Apple wanted iWatch it would of gotten iWatch:cool:
 
Apple Watch, applewatch, :apple: Watch, :apple:Watch and a modifier key

Apple Watch™ and the Apple logo® are trademarks of Apple. No surprise there.

:apple: Watch is on the Apple Watch. No surprise there.

applewatch.com is pleasantly god-like.

applewatch.net is not .com but its use is clearly commercial. .net was originally intended for organizations involved in networking technologies, it's now general purpose; I suspect the primary reason for the commercial organisation presenting nothing Apple-branded is either:
  1. sulking, on an Amazonian scale, about not getting the better domain; or
  2. a humorous response to use of applewatch.com by The Creator.
Probably the latter. Maybe no-one else finds it funny that there's a knock-off considerately priced third party alternative to an Apple product in the top ten. But I do.

Moving on …

:apple:Watch.com gets me nowhere :)
notdotcom.png


Looking up, not only to the gods …

Code: 
Lookup has started…

optionshiftk.com -> 184.168.221.40

option-shift-k.com -> The operation couldn’t be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
shift-option-k.com -> The operation couldn’t be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
shiftoptionk.com -> The operation couldn’t be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)
altshiftk.com -> The operation couldn’t be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 2.)

We can't argue with DNS, so there we have it – from that fifth lookup – a definitive answer to complement Apple knowledge:
  • it's the Option key, folks :cool:

Whozat?

Code: 
Whois has started…

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: OPTIONSHIFTK.COM
   Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
   Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 146
   Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
   Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
   Name Server: NS47.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
   Name Server: NS48.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
   Status: clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
   Status: clientRenewProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
   Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
   Status: clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
   Updated Date: 01-may-2015
   Creation Date: 27-mar-2013
   Expiration Date: 27-mar-2016

>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 29 Jun 2015 10:32:41 GMT <<<

…
 

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dannyyankou said:
Not necessarily. Remember when Apple TV was called iTV? That's because iTV Entertainment threatened legal action.

iTV-Logos.jpg
Click to expand...

Apple TV was never sold as 'iTV'.

Apple called it iTV while it was still in design stages, in September 2006. But when it was announced in January 2007, and released in March 2007 it was ALWAYS called Apple TV.

Maybe Apple was forced to change the name because iTV Entertainment wouldn't negotiate, or maybe Apple decided to change the name because it thought Apple TV sounded better. We don't know.
 
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JayLenochiniMac said:
… all lower cases as in :apple: tv …
Click to expand...

I treat :apple: as uppercase because Apple requires the Shift key in Option-Shift-K

Option-K is ˚ (ring above)

Decades ago, maybe someone at Apple could think of nothing more heavenly than a halo (ring above) and so Option-K was the logical basis for Option-Shift-K …
 
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The "i" stands for "internet" and always has. The Watch cannot get onto the Internet by itself without an iPhone. The TV was first designed as a media server with a hard disk, not streaming movies from the Internet. Pay has nothing to do with the internet. Moreover, you can't surf the web on any of these products, you can't share files natively from any of these products, so it would be totally mis-branding them, and inconsistent with the rest of their product lines, to use the "i".
 
Mac 128 said:
The "i" stands for "internet" and always has. The Watch cannot get onto the Internet by itself without an iPhone.
Click to expand...

So, how am I able to ask Siri (on my watch) questions when my iPhone is off? Like 'what is the score of the Yankees game?' and I get the up-to-date score.
 
Wiesenlooser said:
Also I think since they have Apple Watch , Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition [...]
Click to expand...

The only thing I find a little curious is the lack of a model variant designation in the name for the SS models. It's almost like a "who's on first" bit when talking about it:

"I have an Apple Watch"
"Nice, which model"
"Watch"
"I know it's the Watch, which model?"

I get that it's easily ID'ed by saying Stainless, or Space Black, just struck me as a little odd, especially that it's the "middle tier" product (at least in terms of pricing). It's almost like they should've called the middle tier the Sport and the aluminium version "Fitness" or something (since they're already playing off "sport" as sort of an active lifestyle type spin).
 
Casstiel said:
Anyone care to guess why the name "Apple Watch" was chosen over "iWatch"? iWatch sounds a little better to me.

Were there trademark issues? I remember the trademark issue with "iTV". Is Apple moving away from the i- prefix?
Click to expand...
Omg electronics California own the iWatch trademark. Simple
 
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