Taken from the above link
The web has been full of speculation as to why Apple would name its recently announced breakthrough digital device iPod. Sensing that people need some resolution, Right On Mac decided to call in favors with several of our secret contacts deep inside Apple.
Many consumers think that "pod" refers to foot or hull, indicating a device that is intended to be used while walking, or one that has a stylish, even space age, design.
There seems to be no consensus within Apple about the derivation of the iPod name. One hardware engineer reported it stands for Pentium Out Done, while another suggested it signaled a message to the competition: Puckerup Or Die!
We spoke with a disgruntled member of the naming committee, who said his submission, Product Of Da'future, was sacked early on.
We spoke with two members of the design team, on condition of anonymity. The first, who worked on the final design told us the name stands for PrimO Design. The other, who was removed from the project after submitting a cube shape concept drawing, said she thinks it stands for Pretty Odd Device.
A software engineer reported it was to stand for Pacman On Demand. However that name was pulled when the game Breakout was hidden inside the iPod. Many Apple employees felt iBod didn't have the same punch, although our source maintains it would have highlighted the device's sexy shell nicely.
One cynic in the marketing department told us iPod stands for Painfully Overpriced Device, but we think she is just upset because her job would be a little easier if the iPod were less expensive.
We managed to get an interview with a janitor who reportedly works on Steve Jobs' floor. He said he was emptying the trash a few months ago, when he came across some sketches of the catchy little device. He said that scribbled underneath the drawing were the words "Predator of Dell."
While our investigation did not yield any concrete results, we felt our report would nevertheless be of interest to the Mac community. We hope no one at Apple will lose their jobs over this. We thank our sources for agreeing to speak with us. We will only reveal names by court order.
