June 4, 2014
Well, that just makes perfect sense. That was my reaction upon hearing the name of Apple’s newest operating system, “Yosemite.” (As you probably recall, they switched their naming protocol from Big Cats to Inspiring Californian Geography with the introduction of OS X Mavericks last year.) Yosemite works elegantly on all accounts: it sticks to the […]
October 22, 2013
Apple surprised the tech world today by naming its new tablet the iPad Air. This gutsy naming choice pulls from the company’s established naming lexicon while emphasizing the product’s main selling point: its thin and light design. However, there are some risks to this naming strategy. It’s a great short-term solution that will work long-term only as part of […]
Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion … It was only a matter of time before Apple would run out of fearsome cats to name successive versions of its OS X operating system. And then what? Apple answered that question today with its newly launched Mavericks, otherwise known as OS X 10.9, […]
June 21, 2011
If a name’s beauty is in the “i-” of the beholder, then to Apple, it’s drop-dead gorgeous and worthy of wooing – even if means throwing around some hefty corporate weight to win its heart. Or the name in question is in a committed relationship. No “i-” name is too high in the sky to […]
June 30, 2010
This item was originally published on June 24th, 2010 at Fast Company. I don’t have an iPad yet, but I really really want one. Well, I don’t know if I want an iPad per se, since I have an iPhone already (and really, isn’t the iPad a giant iPhone that doesn’t make calls? But that’s […]
January 28, 2010
The media is awash with criticisms of Apple’s new name: iPad. Now, no one expected the product itself to be a technological flop. Apple just doesn’t flop anymore (well, not for a long time anyway). So the only thing left to criticize is their name choice. (CNN has really jumped on the pad = maxipad […]
October 27, 2008
BlackBerry, Apple, Macintosh – Some of the most successful product names and company names have unexpected roots. How do you reconcile the tart sweetness of blackberries picked on a lazy summer afternoon with a multitasking cell phone? At first glance, product names and company names like BlackBerry and Apple have nothing to do with the […]
October 17, 2005
Podutopia. This is the cover of the latest MacMall catalog, which I just got today, and I’m mystified by the name. “Podutopia” sounds like an island nation or a disease. Why not something coined and a little more natural, like “Podtopia”, or “Poditopia” (keeping in the lowercase “i” in a different position)? Anyway, I think […]
September 11, 2005
Sony announced last week that it was introducing a new portable music player to compete with Apple’s dominant iPod. The brand name they chose for this dramatic entry into the monstrous digital music category? Something edgy? Something hip? Something exciting? Nope. It’s just another Walkman. While I can understand Sony’s logic here, I can’t endorse […]
September 7, 2005
It’s actually called the iPod nano (note lowercase, as they’ve done with the iPod shuffle and iPod mini). Interesting that they’ve keyed on the size with this name, as opposed to the function. Logically it would make more sense for the iPod shuffle to be called the nano, as it’s smaller and lighter, but I […]