What does the "i" mean in "iPod"?

1) "i- is not a generic prefix used to describe a type of service or product; rather, it is used in the branding of individual products. Whereas e-mail refers to electronic mail in general, iMail, refers to the e-mail applications created by Ipswitch, inc. The i- prefix is especially connected to Apple Inc., who employed it for their iMac and iBook and now uses many product names starting with i-, including iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iLife and others. Apple initially said the i stood for “Internet”.

Despite its close association with Apple, the i- prefix has been used by other companies as well, such as Google (iGoogle) and the BBC (iPlayer). It has also been used extensively by shareware and freeware developers in the branding of their products, and even by non-IT companies for their online sites, such as icoke.com."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet-related_prefixes


2) "The name iPod was proposed by Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter, who (with others) was called by Apple to figure out how to introduce the new player to the public. After Chieco saw a prototype, he thought of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and the phrase "Open the pod bay door, Hal!", which refers to the white EVA Pods of the Discovery One spaceship. Apple researched the trademark and found that it was already in use. Joseph N. Grasso of New Jersey had originally listed an "iPod" trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in July 2000 for Internet kiosks. The first iPod kiosks had been demonstrated to the public in New Jersey in March 1998, and commercial use began in January 2000, but had apparently been discontinued by 2001. The trademark was registered by the USPTO in November 2003, and Grasso assigned it to Apple Computer, Inc. in 2005."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod


3) "Hey I: If you have not been a user of Macs for the last decade or so, you may not know what the deal is with all of those "i" prefixes. In 1998 Apple introduced a revolutionary new computer called the iMac. The "i" stood for Internet since these Macs were incredibly easy to hook up and to use with the increasingly popular Internet.

An Apple commercial at the time had actor Jeff Goldblum noting the three steps needed to connect an iMac to the Internet: step one — plug it in; step two — get connected; step three — there is no step three.

After the iMac captured popular attention, Apple adopted the 'i' prefix to designate their consumer hardware and software products such as the iBook, iTunes, iMovie, iSight, etc. These lines have become blurred in recent years with products such as iWork and iSync offering professional-level features and the iMac becoming an increasingly high-end desktop computer."
Source and further information:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/columnists/paul_vaughn/MYSA042207_2R_NZ_State_themacguy_216c8fb_html.html


4) "Apple declared the 'i' in iMac to stand for "Internet"; it also represented the product's focus as a personal device ('i' for "individual").Attention was given to the out-of-box experience: the user needed to go through only two steps to set up and connect to the Internet. "There's no step 3!" was the catch-phrase in a popular iMac commercial narrated by actor Jeff Goldblum. Another commercial, dubbed ”Simplicity Shootout”, pitted seven-year-old Johann Thomas and his border collie Brodie, with an iMac, against Adam Taggart, a Stanford University MBA student, with an HP Pavilion 8250, in a race to set up their computers. Johann and Brodie finished in 8 minutes and 15 seconds, whereas Adam was still working on it by the end of the commercial. Apple later adopted the ‘i’ prefix across its consumer hardware and software lines, such as the iPod, iBook, iPhone and various pieces of software such as the iLife suite and iWork."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac

"Cute advertisement from Apple"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzM4avGrKI

I beleive that the "i" does not stand for the word, "internet". My reason being that there is one product that Apple used to sell. It stood out and, was unique compared to the other Apple products. At times I may have puzzled people, because the name of this product did not start with a lowercase "i". Instead it started with a lowercase "e". Yes I am refering to the "eMac". The eMac was built cheap, targeted towards schools. And because in a school, everyone was/is able to use this machine, I have come to beleive that the "e" in "eMac" stands for "everyone". Apple designed it to be used by everyone. Now, as for the "i" in other Apple products such as: iMac, iPod, iTunes, and iPhone. I beleive that the "i" stands for a single person or a small group (Ex. A household), of people that share the product. Apple "i" products were developed for more personal use, such as: work, school, graphic design & recording music, browsing the web, and home media.

In conclusion (Or in short), in my opinion, and through my experiences, I beleive that then "e" in "eMac", stands for everyone. And the "I", in "iMac", stands for a single user or household.

I'm sorry for the long comment people, I'm just trying to help that's all, and also, I got a new iPod Touch 16GB for Christmas and I love to type on it so I just type whenever I possably can. But what I said up there isn't non-sense, that's my honest opinion. Some people may want to disagree with me, what I wrote is not based on any facts at all, it's just my full opinion based on my own experiences.

Contact me:
WorldWideRomance@hotmail.com
www.geeks.pirillo.com/profile/jacobholmes
www.youtube.com/user/worldwideromance

“Apple declared the "i" in iMac to stand for "Internet". Since then on, it became a nice sub-brand and followed on with apple products for example:

iTunes
iPod
iMac
iPhone
etc....

the 'i' in ipod , imac could actually be a symbol for our desires. with not literal meaning but a symbolic value.

the philosopher hegel said " self consciousness is desire"
desire first occurs when a human recognises its self within the world within language it is when we first use the word 'i'

in psycoanalysis desire is first stimulated during the mirror phase
according to lacan desire begins when a baby see's itself in a mirror and becomes self conscious, an image of the self conscious which is the key to our desires.

by puttin i at the start of their product apple gives its product ability to be unconsciously desired. by linking it to the image of the self the 'i'

i the individual?

or the all seeing eye???

Internet.

I like to think its spesh coz its all for I... regardless of what u ppl say.... DONT RAIN ON MY PARADE... lol.

actually it cant mean internet, because as much as the new technology has internet. the first 'ipod' did not have internet access, so therefor the letter i could not mean internet

the i stands for internet also it stands for innovation

Ignorant.

"e" for Education like K-12... "i" for ??? My kid when he was 10 muttered "i" for Apple... He was watching an animated TV series in Japan "Go" and i asked him what does i-Go means... He said Apple Chess... and that one came from a 10 year old, not from me...

Me,Myself and I... Actually, the answer above, this one makes sense to me...

The e in eMAC is for economical and the i in iMAC stands for intuitive. It implies that an iDevice or whatever iName you define is simple to use. At least that is what Steve said .....