apple of my i

Posted on | June 1, 2005 | 4 Comments

Does anyone know what the ‘i’ in ‘ibook’, ‘ipod’, etc. stands for? Someone asked me yesterday and I promised to get him an answer. If it’s mac specific, then why iburst? Speaking of which, check out the marketing genius at work here. A woman and a man get frisky in the office, a lady perches on a cliff top, a baby discovers the joy of computers… there really is no end to the charm and power of the laptop.

Category: Web studies

Comments

4 Responses to “apple of my i”

  1. Neddy
    June 1st, 2005 @ 10:21 am

    I think the ‘i’ is supposed me be all about ownership and individuality. iPod is like saying MyPod but way more marketable. This is just a guess.

  2. Josh
    June 1st, 2005 @ 10:50 am

    According to the Wikipedia entry for iMac:
    “Apple marketed the “i” in iMac to stand for “Internet”. Much was made of an incredible out-of-box experience such that any iMac buyer only needed 2 steps to connect to and surf the Internet. “There’s no step 3!” became an instant catch phrase.

    Apple later adopted the “i” prefix across its consumer hardware and software line, such as the iPod, iBook, and iLife.”

    I think the ‘i’ has become a part of Apple’s product identity, the same way coloured computers and now white hardware distinguish Apple. The adoption of the prefix by other companies would seem an attempt to piggyback on Apple’s reputation, an attempt to imbue any ‘i’ branded technology (or service) with pop culture cred. When it’s not an Apple product, however, I think this asttempt to leach from Apple’s reputation appears sort of obvious and clumsy.

  3. nic
    June 1st, 2005 @ 1:07 pm

    Yeah, the I was “internet” in iMac – basically because it was an internet ready machine. Now that they just use it for the hell of it.

  4. Laura
    June 2nd, 2005 @ 9:20 am

    I read the ‘i’ as meaning that it’s all about me – me, me, me. It hooks up with the way heaps of other new tech words were formed by attaching an ‘e’ in front. It’s also sort of like the way Windows stuff is sorted into categories of ‘My’ stuff – My Pictures, My Documents, My Computer etc. The hidden message there is “Mac is no more mysterious or unintuitive to use than the Windows interface, and it is a whole lot snappier and punchier and grooovier into the bargain.”

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