Comments on: Apple: The power of sensory memory

By: The Name Inspector

The Name Inspector — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:45:56 +0000

Hey Grumpy Jake, nice to see a negative comment on here from time to time. Keeps me on my toes. But really, flailing? Now that hurt. Readers familiar with this blog, however, will know that I reserve the right to both “spout fact” and make liberal use of personal reflection, and even out-and-out subjective opinion! I would never be content to write a mere factual article. Where’s the fun in that?

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 21:49:58 +0000

I’m really glad I’m not the only professional on the blog that realizes this was a flailing attempt at an educated understanding of Apple’s brand.

If you’re going to spout fact, please refrain from using personal reflection, unless you’re going to make the article an “opinion” piece, rather than a factual article.

All you’re doing is confusing the common.

By: glyn

glyn — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 19:49:21 +0000

Mmmm … i guess you are talking about the origin of the apple name, the associations and product / service relationships discussed here sound accurate enough … but i don’t think apple for teacher is part of the story? certainly not adam, but the temptation to own an apple … maybe …

you don’t dicuss the huge battle they had with the beatles and their apple records for trademark infringement … why not?

i know and many of my friends know the origin of apples name but its not discussed here … ?

By: John

John — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:59:46 +0000

Um, its name actually comes from Newton’s apple, not Adam’s.

By: Unglamorous metaphors: Twine : The Name Inspector

Unglamorous metaphors: Twine : The Name Inspector — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:54:19 +0000

[...] It’s interesting to compare the name Twine to the name Apple, which The Name Inspector wrote about some time ago. Both names make technical, abstract things more accessible by associating them with everyday objects. But the name Apple gets a certain glamour from the beauty and the cultural and literary significance of apples. Twine, on the other hand, is decidedly unglamorous. Apples are things you polish and proudly display in a bowl, but twine is something you throw in a drawer or a car trunk and forget about, until you need to use it. [...]

By: technogoddess

technogoddess — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:02:40 +0000

Apple has always been the cool outsider when it comes to computing and the name alone implies this fact. Other computer companies (in my opinion) used really dull names for their products that were very technical sounding and uninspiring even if their functions were useful or even fun. “Apple Computers” was a signal to expect something different, and its core targeted market (i.e. people who wanted to be different) hasn’t really changed much since its creation. It appealed to the hip computer user with a penchant for the unique, the unexpected, the bleeding edge and who was not afraid to try something new and non-traditional. I still hear people who brag that they bought or used Apple computers long before the company was popularized by its commercials in the mid-80s. Clearly “Apple” is a richly descriptive name for a technologically different experience. Macinosh is an incredible extention of the Apple-family names. And all because the Woz (Steve Wozniak co-founder of Apple Computers) liked to eat those particular apples.

By: The Name Inspector

The Name Inspector — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:16:30 +0000

Hi Jack,

Thanks for setting the record straight. I guess I mistook my personal experience and recollection of the Apple Macintosh for real history. The first personal computer I used to do word processing and things like that was a Mac in a college computer room. My main computer experience before that had been playing Oregon Trail on a school mainframe with a teletype interface. Needless to say that was considerably earlier. I wasn’t paying enough attention to computers in high school, though I’m sure I must have used IBM PCs there in the library at least. Anyway, I stand corrected.

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:48:32 +0000

> Before Apple’s famous “1984″ ad, when people
> thought of computers, they thought of mainframes
> used in business and government.

This really isn’t true. The Apple name became fairly well known in 1977 from press coverage of the Apple II, which was long before 1984. Home computers such as the Atari, Vic 20, Commodore 64 and others had also made computers seem fun, approachable, and desirable well before 1984. (They were mainly used for playing games.) Even businesses and governments were using IBM PCs before the 1984 ad, and the IBM PC was launched in 1981 with friendly approachable ads featuring a Charlie Chaplin tramp character.

The IBM PC was in fact so successful that Time magazine chose the “personal computer” as its 1982 Man of the Year.

By: The Name Inspector » Blog Archive » PageFlakes: Good metaphors don’t have to be perfect

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:19:45 +0000

[...] There’s something interesting to notice here. PageFlakes is a vivid name, and that’s good, but it’s vivid in a particular way. There are different ways for a name to be vivid. Sometimes a name introduces sensory associations in all their minute detail to bathe something in a warm emotional glow, the way Apple does. Other times a name provides a sort of cognitive scaffolding to help people understand what something is all about. In that case the most important sensory associations are schematic ones relating to general size, shape, motion, and other properties that allow us to make inferences about how we might physically interact with something. [...]