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Mechcozmo said:
What the heck are you smoking? :confused:

The 'i' stands for "internet" and it all started with the G3 iMac.

Apple got their name because of a few reasons:
1) it came before Atari in the phonebook
2) Nothing that the Steve's were able to come up with could match it
Jobs called Woz and said "I've got it!" and afterwards they weren't able to figure out anything that sounded better. They tried pretty hard, too.


haha, yeah well I'm graphic designer. In school we learned a lot about marketing and how apple's corporate identity was developed (the bitten apple representing the forbidden fruit, etc.) I realize that the "i" in iMac stands for internet but in the context of iLife/iPod/etc, it really has no functional meaning; therefore, I assume Apple prefixed these products with "i" for marketing purposes. But this is just my opinion.
 
believo said:
I realize that the "i" in iMac stands for internet but in the context of iLife/iPod/etc, it really has no functional meaning; therefore, I assume Apple prefixed these products with "i" for marketing purposes. But this is just my opinion.

Right on that part...

believo said:
In school we learned a lot about marketing and how apple's corporate identity was developed (the bitten apple representing the forbidden fruit, etc.)

Pretty sure you are wrong on that part.....
 
iRemember when the original iMac was first introduced. The "i" in the name did indeed connote the internet. That's how some of the first commercials sold the product: take it out of the box, plug it in, hook it up, and you're online.

But as others have already said, the "i" stuck just because it sounded cool, and now we have "i" everything. No, it doesn't make much literal sense anymore, but it doesn't bother me.
 
rueyeet said:
The eMac was the iMac for education, hence the e....but over time, Apple's iNamed products have lost the "internet" association, and now an iSomething pretty much connotes an Apple branded product (though other companies use the "i" as a tech-sounding prefix for their own products too).

The first use of 'vowel'Name for products i can recall was the eMate:
http://www.msu.edu/~luckie/gallery/images/emate.gif

Its regarded as a design classic by know-nothing designers i used to have to work and study with. Idiots.
I think it was apples first product solely focused at education too, although there were desktops like the all-in-one and the performa/LC series which were used in schools.

Its strange how Apples product line has shifted since 1996. Whilst the imac hasnt changed in price, it has become a semi-pro desktop. When it was first launched there really werent many sub £800 desktops, so it was regarded as a real consumer/budget machine. Nowadays budget PCs are alot cheaper and so the imac has shifted upwards into its slightly niche semi-pro market.

I think the imac line has suffered because of this slightly. I also think that in many ways the minimac is the bondi-imac reincarnate.

Anyway
This old timer is boring you all. Ill let you carry on making your hilarious iQuips.
 
believo said:
yeah, exacty.. and if you you know the story about apple's logo representing adam & eve and the forbidden fruit, 6 colors (old school logo), etc.... it really fits into their whole marketing scheme.

The first logo doesn't have anything to do with Adam & Eve - where'd you hear that??

The first logo was Newton(?) sitting under a tree.
apple_logo.jpg


It was soon dropped because it didn't reduce well without loosing too much detail.
 
There are so many stories about the Apple logo's inception that it's near impossible to sort it out without one of the Steves here. Michael Morris claims in his corporobiography that Jobs wanted the bite removed to symbolize the consumer, while the stripes weren't added until a version a few weeks later. This is all after the first logo above, with Newton. The Apple logo has been in the form of two slightly different shapes, not including a slightly softer version they've been using since the original iMac. The stripes have also slightly changed but not at the same time as the shape.

The story about adam and eve may have something to do with the pricing of the Apple I, $666.66. Supposedly they got a little hassle about it, and people started gossiping... Like I said, I'm not going to claim absolute certainty, but I don't think you can either.
 
paulwhannel said:
There are so many stories about the Apple logo's inception that it's near impossible to sort it out without one of the Steves here. Michael Morris claims in his corporobiography that Jobs wanted the bite removed to symbolize the consumer, while the stripes weren't added until a version a few weeks later. This is all after the first logo above, with Newton. The Apple logo has been in the form of two slightly different shapes, not including a slightly softer version they've been using since the original iMac. The stripes have also slightly changed but not at the same time as the shape.

The story about adam and eve may have something to do with the pricing of the Apple I, $666.66. Supposedly they got a little hassle about it, and people started gossiping... Like I said, I'm not going to claim absolute certainty, but I don't think you can either.

The bite was in the Apple so people wouldn't get it confused with a cherry tomato.
Steve Jobs used is RDF for the first time by saying he took $777 (lucky!) and subtracted one from each (also lucky somehow). Ended up with $666.66 and people bought it and the story.
 
paulwhannel said:
Michael Morris



I suppose you mean Michael Moritz.

At least that's what the copy of The Little Kingdom I got from my university library's disposal table for $1 says his name is on the spine.
 
believo said:
ok, it's pretty known thing if you're a graphic designer.. i mean u can check this link out http://www.logobob.com/logo-design-apple.htm if you don't believe me or you can ask an expert.

One freakin' line. No evidence in that paragraph either. Wow... :rolleyes:

Ever read Apple Confidential? (Now at 2.0!) Might be a good place for you to start before you link to articles that don't say anything. Heck, for all I know, you could have written that article! (OK, OK, so you didn't, but see what I mean?)
 
Strange but true: The lowercase i in Apple's line of iProducts stands for Internet with an uppercase I, not internet with a lowercase i.

"An internet" (lowercase i) is a connection among networks.

"The Internet" (uppercase I) is a particular internet we're all using.

The "i" in iMac refers to the latter.

And (just theory) I think the i in iLife and iPod refers to the i in iMac, i.e., it links it to the iMac's role as the modern consumer's tool for the age of the Internet, but that the i in those products no longer stands for "Internet".
 
Well it sure seems that whatever it stands for, here is one instance where the questions holds definite marketing power. I suppose that's the beauty of it. One can choose to believe it represents whatever they want. There are a lot of words with positive meanings that can be attached to iLife, or iWhatever.
 
frequeniquity said:
i thought steve jobs was an interim Ceo so he called himself an iCEO and the i stuck around.
The media called Steve Jobs that, after the iMac.

believo said:
ok, it's pretty known thing if you're a graphic designer.. i mean u can check this link out http://www.logobob.com/logo-design-apple.htm if you don't believe me or you can ask an expert.
First of all that link is to an advertisement! That page is an ad for "Corporate Logo Design starting at only $179." How "pretty known" and "expert" is that? Not at all. Secondly, I read that page and there are so many, hmmm, inaccuracies and false statements on that page alone. I have been involved with Apple for over twenty years and that is the first time I've heard that Bible reference. The apple was the Steves' favorite fruit (remember they both grew-up in and around Cupertino, which was orchards until the 1980s) and Apple came before Atari (their competition at that time) in directory listings. Just that alone fits Jobs' personality much more than "the apple representing forbidden fruit." Come on, that just does not fit. All that "fruit of the tree of knowledge" was others' ideas and came after the Steves had picked "Apple" as the name and logo, not before for marketing reasons.

Steve Jobs did not co-found Pixar. Jon Lassiter is the founder and Pixar had been in operation for over a decade under George Lucas. Steve Jobs merely bought Pixar from George Lucas. So I think that LogoBob just listed some rumors on a web page to lure people (and he got at least one). Sure, they sound good, especially if you are into marketing and design, but they are not true.

Remember, the Internet is not a credible reference and just because something is on the Internet does not make it true. In fact, in my experience, if the information came from the Internet, then its probably not true.

Doctor Q's explanation two posts above is spot-on the mark.
 
sacear said:
Remember, the Internet is not a credible reference and just because something is on the Internet does not make it true. In fact, in my experience, if the information came from the Internet, then its probably not true.

How true. But this is coming off of the Internet, thus it may not be true, but I am believing in its statements on truth on the Internet.

I'm :confused:
I do that to myself sometimes...
 
i has come to connotate consumer products

It believe it is true that the i started out to stand for "internet," but it has since come to distiguish apples consumer products from that of the education, "e," professional, "power," and enterprise "x." I think that this makes it easier for people to figure out who a new or existing product is designed for. I personally think that the prefixes are a good idea and let people know exactly what they are buying and what kind of performance to expect. (except the outdated "power(more like wimpy)books".)
 
iKnezek said:
It believe it is true that the i started out to stand for "internet," but it has since come to distiguish apples consumer products from that of the education, "e," professional, "power," and enterprise "x." I think that this makes it easier for people to figure out who a new or existing product is designed for. I personally think that the prefixes are a good idea and let people know exactly what they are buying and what kind of performance to expect. (except the outdated "power(more like wimpy)books".)
You missed an obvious name, iKnezek. You mentioned iMacs for the consumer line, eMacs for the education line, and then outdated Macs. Apple's refurb shop should obviously be selling oMacs!
 
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