A Mac by Any Other Name

I’m always fascinated by the background story behind iconic brand names. Like  Apple Computer’s re-imagined personal computer, introduced in 1998, which would ultimately be called the “iMac.”

What would Apple look like today if its agency hadn’t talked Steve Jobs out of his pet name for it–the “MacMan?” Would we have had the “iPod” or the “PodMan?” The “iPhone” or the “PhoneMan?” The “iPad” or the “PadMan?”

Let’s all give TBWA/Chiat/Day props for steering Jobs away from that naming disaster. And let’s be thankful that Jobs was man enough to recognize an idea better than his own. Ken Segall tells the story here.