Apple's Ive on naming products: 'We're really quite careful with the words we use'

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple design guru Jony Ive gave a bit of insight on how the iPhone maker sets to naming its products in a recent interview, claiming that the company's attention to detail goes down to the very words it chooses for its products.



Ive received an award from Children's BBC program Blue Peter last week, and in the process gave viewers a small tour of one of Apple's design and fabrication facilities. In an extra clip discovered by freelance journalist Tom Davenport, Ive discusses how Apple would hypothetically approach designing a lunchbox:
"If we?re thinking of lunchbox, we?d be really careful about not having the word 'box' already give you ?bunch of ideas that could be quite narrow. You think of a box being a square, and like a cube. And so we?re quite careful with the words we use, because those can determine the path that you go down."
Ive, as Apple's Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, led design efforts for the MacBook Pro, iMac, MacBook Air, iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, and iPad mini.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 98
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    So much for doubling-down on security ¡

    LOL at the box remark. Over here some use it to refer to a woman's, well, can't use the C word I presume.
  • Reply 2 of 98
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Is that why the Mac "Cube" didn't do so well?!
  • Reply 3 of 98
    gordiogordio Posts: 69member
    It's amazing how people stopped mocking the name "iPad". The first time the name was heard, everyone was making fun of it. Now it's a commonplace word.
  • Reply 4 of 98
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member


    Not sure what his comments have to do with the naming of products.  Seems it's more about not having a name define the path you go down when designing a product.

  • Reply 5 of 98
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    philboogie wrote: »
    So much for doubling-down on security ¡

    LOL at the box remark. Over here some use it to refer to a woman's, well, can't use the C word I presume.

    And there's nothing square (all definitions) about it. Lol
  • Reply 6 of 98
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    Really? An entire article about a pull-quote from a video that accompanied yesterday's article? Are you guys really that desperate for news ideas?
  • Reply 7 of 98
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member


    deleted

  • Reply 8 of 98
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    "iLunch Pro" was mysteriously trademarked by Apple. It has patented cooling vents and an asymmetrical fan. And the lid opens with magnets to instantly present your food.
  • Reply 9 of 98
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    And there's nothing square (all definitions) about it. Lol

    That because it would have rounded corners.
  • Reply 10 of 98
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member


    Here's the full video segment from Blue Peter. 


     


     Love Ive's reaction as the kids are explaining their designs.

  • Reply 11 of 98
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gordio View Post



    It's amazing how people stopped mocking the name "iPad". The first time the name was heard, everyone was making fun of it. Now it's a commonplace word.


    yes...i remember...I was one of those people saying how bad a choice that name was. Now it is so normal i don't even think about it anymore.....

  • Reply 12 of 98
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    I guess that's why the 6th iPhone was 'iPhone 5'. They didn't want to get bogged down with names that made sense. It's definitely thinking outside the box; 6 is 5, after all, for sufficiently small values of 6… 






    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post

    "iLunch Pro" was mysteriously trademarked by Apple. It has patented cooling vents and an asymmetrical fan. And the lid opens with magnets to instantly present your food.


     



    And mesh at the bottom, for crumbs.

  • Reply 13 of 98
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    I guess that's why the 6th iPhone was 'iPhone 5'. They didn't want to get bogged down with names that made sense. It's definitely thinking outside the box; 6 is 5, after all, for sufficiently small values of 6… 


     


    And mesh at the bottom, for crumbs.



    lol.....im going to let you have a pass on this.....

  • Reply 14 of 98
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    I guess that's why the 6th iPhone was 'iPhone 5'. They didn't want to get bogged down with names that made sense. It's definitely thinking outside the box; 6 is 5, after all, for sufficiently small values of 6… 


     


    And mesh at the bottom, for crumbs.



    lol.....im going to let you have a pass on this.....



     


    Admit it - you would have been disappointed if TS hadn't made some comment on this in relation to the iPhone naming debate.

  • Reply 15 of 98
    ecsecs Posts: 307member


    Please Jony, less nonsense interviews, and more work on the next OSX release and on the new Mac Pro, please.

  • Reply 16 of 98
    gadgetcanadagadgetcanada Posts: 423member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post





    That because it would have rounded corners.


     


    and designed to feel really good in your hands

  • Reply 17 of 98
    panupanu Posts: 135member
    The iLunch has rounded corners, an innovative cooling system, and magnets instead of a latch. You can password-protect it so no one can steal your lunch. If you lose it, or someone steals it, you can find it with iCloud. There is no optical drive, of course, and it is very, very thin.

    You can take a different pizza to lunch every day! And your beverage fits nicely in the accompanying iDrink.

    By Tuesday, Samsung's salesmen will be selling knock-offs from their trench coats in alleyways. Be sure to check out their Nolex watches while you are there.
  • Reply 18 of 98
    justamacguyjustamacguy Posts: 50member
    Here at Apple we pretty much use any work the we can put a little "i" in front of.
  • Reply 19 of 98
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by muppetry View Post

    Admit it - you would have been disappointed if TS hadn't made some comment on this in relation to the iPhone naming debate.


     


    Well, it was going to happen sooner or later; figured someone with a history of it should be the one. image

  • Reply 20 of 98
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    muppetry wrote: »
    Admit it - you would have been disappointed if TS hadn't made some comment on this in relation to the iPhone naming debate.

    I'm surprised he wasn't the first to post.
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