Comments on: Apple: The power of sensory memory http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/ Tells you what makes names tick. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:50:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Unglamorous metaphors: Twine : The Name Inspector http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-18056 Unglamorous metaphors: Twine : The Name Inspector Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:54:19 +0000 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-18056 [...] 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. [...] […] 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 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-3740 technogoddess Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:02:40 +0000 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-3740 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. 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 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-764 The Name Inspector Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:16:30 +0000 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-764 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. 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 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-760 Jack Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:48:32 +0000 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-760 > 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. > 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 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-9 The Name Inspector » Blog Archive » PageFlakes: Good metaphors don’t have to be perfect Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:19:45 +0000 http://www.thenameinspector.com/apple/#comment-9 [...] 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. [...] […] 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. […]

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