Filed under: iPod Family, Cult of Mac
The iProduct
E-Commerce News asks what has one letter done to gadgetry? Adding an "i" to the start of your product name instantly identifies it as being intended for, or associated with, the iPod. Howard Kim of iLuv deliberately added an i to his company's product line while Tim V. Kolton of V-Moda headphones i-avoided. He didn't want to get lost in the crowd. Seems to me that if a single letter sends a powerful sales message to potential customers you'd be silly not to i your product. What do you think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Galley said 8:20PM on 5-08-2007
FWIW, iRiver Co., Ltd. predates the iPod by a couple of years.
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Ahmad said 7:25PM on 5-08-2007
I wonder what letter they're going to exploit next..... q maybe?
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Brian said 7:41PM on 5-08-2007
I avoid all that corny iProduct crap like the plague. 99% of the time it's cheap wholesale crap repackaged by some ass trying to cash in on the whole iPod thing. A product good enough to deserve its own identity usually gets one.
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GadgetGav said 8:56PM on 5-08-2007
Utter crap.
It's an obvious attempt by companies to jump on the iPod bandwaggon, but it's been applied to plenty of things that have nothing to do with the iPod.
Hell, Apple didn't even invent it for the iPod. The iMac existed long before the iPod - originally I think people thought it stood for 'internet' but I don't think Apple ever said that. Even Steve Jobs' title was iCEO before the iPod. That was officially 'interim' but it tied in nicely with the iMac.
E-Commerce News should think a bit more before they come up with this rubbish, and anyone writing for an Apple website should know enough Apple history to be able to point out the lack of consistency in their argument.
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JeffDM said 10:39PM on 5-08-2007
I too am getting tired of the i-something naming. For the recent comers, I think it just smacks of me-too-ism and frankly, a total lack of imagination.
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ThunkDifferent.com said 8:49AM on 5-09-2007
iriver has been around... the igoogloe bit just. seems. tired. i am not a fan. for Apple products it works obviously, but when other companies drive it into the ground, they are the followers, not the leaders.
ithink therefore i'm different.
http://thunkdifferent.com
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Dimebag said 10:56AM on 5-09-2007
i has definitely replaced X as far as cool factor goes, now certain factions are pushing Y… The whole thing is quite silly to me.
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B Hunter said 5:47PM on 5-10-2007
i think it may have been to give an emotional trigger to the Mac, like it is saying "Im Mac" to the person looking at it, while at the same time triggering a possessive notion in the brain making you start to believe you already own it and now must buy it and take it home. Originally it was quite genius. Now its worn down to gimmicky.
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