Apple maintains "Think Different" trademark

What bad grammar? I suppose you think it should be ‘think differently’? That is in fact subtly different to the—perfectly correct—‘think different’.

The word ‘differently’ is an adverb, and so modifies the verb, in this case, ‘think’. So, ‘think differently’ would mean ‘think in a manner which is different’.

However, the word ‘different’ is an adjective used here in a substantival (nominal) sense; it doesn’t modify anything. ‘Think different’ thus means ‘think with the result that your thought is different’. You might think that the difference in meaning between ‘think different’ and ‘think differently’ is marginal and, well, you’re probably right. However, Apple’s slogan has always been ‘think different’, and there’s nothing grammatically wrong with that.

Similarly, the dentist should tell you to ‘open wide’, i.e. ‘open such that your mouth is wide-open’. If he says ‘open widely’, well, that makes no sense whatsoever, since nothing can be done ‘widely’ (i.e. ‘in a manner which is wide’).

I understand your point and have had the conversation before. I guess it's not really a question of good or bad grammar, for some reason the phrase itself just irks me. Ever since I first heard it, it just sounded strange. I can't really explain it.

Maybe I shouldn't have used the phrase 'bad grammar' and simply said grammar. Have you argued this concept before or are you possibly an English student/teacher? I only ask as that was a pretty detailed response to what was ultimately kind of a pointless comment (I don't know why I posted it myself, just happened to see the post and got annoyed at the phrase yet again).

As for the widely example, I do have to respectfully disagree. I believe that not only can many things be done widely, but I also count 'open widely' to be among them.

Anyway, so as not to be totally off topic and annoy fellow commenters with an extended back and forth: Mr. Flynn, what do you think about the rumored upcoming Apple tablet? Many people I know are expecting it to be released in the second quarter of 2010 and who knows where they pulled the figure from, but they're claiming it will be between $600 and $700.