You already know that Apple thinks different about design:

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s C.E.O. “People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
— Steve Jobs, New York Times, November 30, 2003

But Apple thinks different about product names too.

As blogged recently by columnist Seth Weintraub, Apple’s product names are simple and clear, unlike most of the names competitors use. Being simple and clear makes the names easy to recognize and easy to pronounce. It makes them easy to use.

“Contrast this with Nokia, which sells its solid N-series phone lineup from N70 to N95. Ask all but the most hardened geek what differentiates each one and you’ll get little more than a confused expression. How about the Toshiba G900 or the Samsung F700? – both great phones with forgettable names. It’s hard to have a relationship with an anonymous number.”
— Seth Weintraub, Computerworld, November 26, 2007

Apple’s formula is simplicity itself:

1. Start with a simple and short brand name like Mac, iPod, iPhone, Airport, or Apple.
2. Add a qualifier to form the base product name like Mac mini, iPod nano, Airport Express

That’s it—that’s the product name. Hardware attributes like “15-inch” or “40GB” are probably also technically part of the product name, but they’re never positioned that way.

MacBook	13-inch, White, 2.0GHz 13-inch, White, 2.2GHz 13-inch, Black, 2.2GHz
MacBook Pro	15-inch, 2.2GHz 15-inch, 2.4GHz 17-inch, 2.4GHz
Mac mini	1.83GHz, Combo Drive 2.0GHz, SuperDrive
iMac	20-inch, 2.0GHz 20-inch, 2.4GHz 24-inch, 2.4GHz 24-inch, 2.8GHz
Mac Pro	8-core or quad-core: Up to 3.0 GHz
iPod shuffle	pick a color
iPod nano	4GB 8GB, pick a color
iPod classic	80GB: 20,000 Songs 160GB: 40,000 Songs
iPod touch	8GB 16GB
iPhone
AppleTV	40GB 160GB
Airport Extreme
Airport Express
Apple Cinema Displays	20-inch 23-inch 30-inch
Apple Remote

Actually, there’s one case where a hardware attribute does appear to be part of the name: wireless peripherals. But why is it “Apple Keyboard” (which is wired), but “Apple wired Mighty Mouse”?
And why it is “Apple Wireless Keyboard” (capital W), but “Apple wireless Mighty Mouse”?

Apple Keyboard
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Apple wired Mighty Mouse
Apple wireless Mighty Mouse

Saturday, December 1st, 2007, 12:30 pm    Both comments and pings are currently closed.