Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, OS, Apple, Leopard, Apple History
Snow Leopard might not be the best code name
The great Mental Floss blog actually did the research on something that occurred to me as soon as Steve said "Snow Leopard" during the keynote -- naming an OS after a cat "sometimes known as the ounce" might not be the best idea.File this stuff in the "didja know" column: snow leopards aren't actually leopards -- they're actually closer in family to cheetahs, which means that the new OS might be a little closer to Aqua than we're all comfortable with. Also, they're pretty timid -- not only can they not roar (so new audio features in the OS are out), they're known to hide behind their fuzzy tails. We'll put it this way: you wouldn't exactly want to call your football team The Snow Leopards, so we're not quite sure why Steve decided to use the moniker.
Finally, the weirdest tie here is that the snow leopard as a symbol is already taken -- by the Girl Scouts of Kyrgyzstan. Of course, Steve's naming capabilities haven't really been up to snuff lately, and maybe he just didn't want to go with Cougar -- even though Apple owns it, they may not have been ready to take on all the connotations associated with that particular nomenclature. Then again, maybe this will be good for the snow leopard's image -- after seeing all these pictures of cool cats, if you feel you'd like to help them out, we're sure the Snow Leopard Trust would be happy to hear from you.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
kertof said 3:07PM on 6-11-2008
They didn't use Cougar because it means Puma. Cougar and Puma are the same animal, and apple has already used Puma...
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George Cowdery said 4:31AM on 6-12-2008
SnowJobs! I think with Steve's SnowLeopard moniker we can infer the new OS will be an overpriced slightly improved version of Leopard. C'mon! I am just beginning to feel like Leopard is nearing a reliable version - and now I have to shell out another 130 bucks for what SHOULD be part of the Leopard upgrade path. Another beef: Why doesn't Apple lower ipod Touch prices - Not every one wants or needs (or can afford monthly charges to feed) an iPhone. For the price Apple charges put a mic and a camera in the darn thing!
ricky said 9:06AM on 6-12-2008
Or it could be just building up to OS 10.5.7: Siamese house cat.
Johnny Thrash said 3:13PM on 6-11-2008
They also used Panther... which is a Puma, which is a Cougar...
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Brandon Martinez said 3:16PM on 6-11-2008
Lion? Roar! King o' da' Jungle!
Dan Armstrong said 3:15PM on 6-11-2008
I'm pretty sure it was called Snow Leopard because its basically a more solid Leopard platform. A minor upgrade over Leopard, hence keeping Leopard in the name.
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Brandon Martinez said 3:16PM on 6-11-2008
Of course, we're just playing around here :P Slow news day?
quandmeme said 6:43PM on 6-11-2008
That's exactly what it did for me. I'm on record for not liking MobileMe, so I can't disagree categorically with Jobs being of his naming game, but I will say that it will go far stopping pundits for lamenting the lack of new features when it hits. If it were revolutionary, they'd have called it ninja space cat, but this is just a revamp: leopard to snow leopard.
Its all about expectation management.
The video tutorials let us know what to expect weeks before we can use something, so there is already a core of pre-trained users to chorus how intuitive it is. I think it's brilliant.
YodaMac said 3:18PM on 6-11-2008
Seriously? You're looking into the SYMBOLISM of the cat name used?
Maybe since 10.6 is just a mod to the existing Leopard, they just looked for another type of leopard cat name. Are there any others besides Snow Leopard?
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joe said 10:14PM on 6-11-2008
Leopard Gecko?
Galley said 3:18PM on 6-11-2008
Perhaps they should call it Amur Leopard, and Apple could donate all proceeds to save this magnificent animal from extinction. There are less than 40 left in the wild.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amur_leopard
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Brandon Martinez said 3:20PM on 6-11-2008
Because naming it after something that will soon be extinct is good symbolism... hahaha
L8on said 7:44PM on 6-11-2008
great point Brandon!
CaptSaltyJack said 3:22PM on 6-11-2008
Apple's going to run out of big cats eventually. They'll have to switch to some other group of animals when OS XI hits. I can see it now:
OS 11.0 - Finch
OS 11.1 - Robin
OS 11.2 - Bluebird
OS 11.3 - Cardinal
Just doesn't have that same impact, does it? What about:
OS 11.0 - Doberman
Let's stop right there. Nothing else sounds quite as good. What about fish? Trout, shark, halibut. Nah. Given Apple's recent attention towards making the iPhone more international, maybe cities around the world might be a good way to go.
OS 11.0 - Cupertino (gotta start with home base, of course)
OS 11.1 - Tokyo
OS 11.2 - Moscow
OS 11.3 - Morocco
Anyone else have any ideas?
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mentalsticks said 3:29PM on 6-11-2008
I don't want to have to tell you this and I hope and pray that your tongue was poking its way through the side of your mouth as you wrote this and that you are laughing so hard as you are reading this that cracks are appearing in your testicles, but:
MOROCCO IS NOT A CITY (unless you meant Morocco, Indiana, pop. 1,127)
CaptSaltyJack said 3:32PM on 6-11-2008
Er, well.. I'm not too proud to admit I made a mistake. Woops. ;) The correct answer was "Rabat" as the capital of Morocco.
Now I feel stupid! But thanks for correcting me.
Simon Arch said 4:26PM on 6-11-2008
"unless you meant Morocco, Indiana, pop. 1,127"
Well duh, what other Morocco is there? ;)
And I don't mind the birds, but let's stick to birds of prey, shall we? 11.0 Osprey, 11.1 Peregrine, 11.2 Eagle, etc.
Waterfowl would be interesting. 11.0 Wood Duck, 11.1 Kestrel, 11.2 Blue-footed Boobie...hm. Maybe not.
zbirdboy said 8:18PM on 6-11-2008
im all for bird of prey names - being a bird nerd
maybe since they are moving toward a smaller footprint:
11.0 Ant
11.1 Bee
11.2 Dragonfly
11.3 Spider
etc.
or maybe:
11.0 Stegosaurus
11.1 Triceratops
11.2 Tyrannosaurus Rex
11.3 Velociraptor
(yea id didn't think so. :) )
Mike said 3:22PM on 6-11-2008
The leopard is a type of Panther(familly) as a point of fact. Leopard is a species, not a genus or family. The Snow Leopard is also a panther (debatable), meaning it is closely related to the Leopard, Tiger, Lion, etc. The Panther common name species (aka, Puma, Cougar) is of the genus Puma, and it has no Leopards in that family. Cheetahs have their own genus and are more different from all other big cats. The Snow Leopard is NOT closely related to the Cheetah.
Some one needs the iFactChecker.
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Joseph said 3:24PM on 6-11-2008
Every day I think I've seen the worst, and every day TUAW ups the ante. I believe this is the most asinine post I've ever read in my entire life.
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