Steve Jobs launches the iPad in 2010 – the last Apple device , which will be given the name "i"
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From the introduction of the first iMac in the 1990s until today, the “i” prefix has symbolized Apple — but Apple has been working to get rid of it since the release of the first iPad in 2010.
Of course, there are still iPhones and iPads — but no iWatch or iTV and definitely no iVision Pro. Among its hardware, software and services, Apple named about 30 products with the letter i in honor of the success of the iMac in 1998.
It's just a letter, but it's so strongly associated with Apple that to this day there are people who call the Apple Watch an iWatch.
They do this even though the last completely new Apple products named with the i prefix were iCloud and iAd in 2011. The last completely new hardware device was the iPad in 2010.
When Apple Started Abandoning i
It may just be a coincidence, but the iPad was also the last new hardware device released by Steve Jobs. It's certainly true that Jobs was a proponent of the i prefix, because the person who came up with it says so.
Ken Segall (second from left) with Steve Jobs (second from right)
“I'm milking this thing while I can,” Marketing Executive Director Ken Segall told Wired, “The fact that I came up with the 'i' in the original iMac makes people interested in what I'm saying.” And he says the “i” has to go… it's meaningless now.” Segall says Steve Jobs built Apple on that letter and the iMac name, but too many firms are using it now
It's definitely lost its “internet” meaning since the iMac helped revolutionize Internet connectivity. into everyday life of society.
Segall is also correct when he further states that it is impossible to trademark or otherwise protect the i prefix. And perhaps that's why Apple has started to move away from this.
Apple moves away from i for the first time
In 2006, Apple gave one of its rare glimpses into the future by showing off what was to become its set-top box. At that time it was called “iTV” — but not for long.
It did not remain under the “iTV” name for long.
The UK Independent Television Network (ITV) objected, and the box was eventually released as Apple TV. At the time, ITV had been operating in Britain for just over five decades, so proving previous use in any court case would not be difficult.
Apple has a tradition of not really caring whether anyone else uses the name it wants. With the iPad, the company may have later spent years fighting legal battles to protect the iPad name, for example, but in the beginning it simply bought the name from Fujitsu.
Or so recent that it is unclear whether this problem has been resolved or not, for example, Apple Vision Pro. Before it can be launched in China, Apple will have to find a way to settle a trademark dispute over the name.
The future “I, Apple”
“There There may be marketing experts who say that Apple would be crazy to abandon the — Internet-connected things, and this is a problem for Apple, which is known for its innovation. He also admits that Apple may now be more willing to take risks when changing names, as it did when it dropped the “PowerBook” in 2006 and replaced it with the MacBook, now a much larger company and therefore a bigger company. With the potential to lose more jobs if things go wrong, Apple may want to tread carefully.But there is also the fact that the iPhone is the most successful product in history. Apple could change the name, but it needs a reason, and just because it isn't as enamored with the letter i as it used to be won't help.
What we leave behind
Again, there is also the iPhone and iPad, as well as iMac, iCloud and iMessage. But over time, Apple abandoned the iPod and iSight.
iBook was also removed — twice. It was first the name of Apple's consumer laptop and then an app for buying and reading books on the iPad.
It was renamed Apple Books, and the iBooks Store followed the same path. iTools, iDisk, iWeb, iChat, iSync and iCal are gone, along with one you probably never noticed – an iTunes feature called iMix.
Gone and forgotten — Apple iSight webcam.
Of course, there is another one, since iTunes is still mentioned from time to time. The app is called Music, and instead of selling tracks, Apple is promoting the Apple Music streaming service.
We still have iOS and iPadOS, and iMovie, but iPhoto has evolved into Photos, and today iDVD sounds positively prehistoric.
The last three are still officially part of the so-called iLife collection of apps, while Numbers, Pages and Keynote are still ostensibly iWork apps.
But the last release of a product called iLife was in 2010, and although iWork is doing better, its last boxed release was in 2011.
So when Ken Segall came up with the name iMac, he created much more than he could have imagined. But now that he wants Apple to kill i, he may be overlooking that the company has been working on this for more than a decade.
Products are more than just names, however, and Segall separately argues that Steve Jobs' innovative spirit lives on at Apple.
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