Get the i out: iBooks rebranded as 'Books' in iOS 11.3 beta 1

Posted:
in iOS edited January 2018
Apple's transition away from "iProducts" continues in the first beta of iOS 11.3, renaming the iBooks app to just simply "Books," potentially foretelling a rebrand as "Apple Books."




Under the direction of Chief Executive Tim Cook, Apple has gradually moved away from its iconic "i" naming scheme, transitioning to products and services with the company name in front of them.

And just as iTunes services have morphed into Apple Music, it appears that iBooks could soon become Apple Books. Upon installing iOS 11.3 beta 1, users will find that the app is now simply named "Books," much like the Apple Music app on iOS is simply "Music."

It wasn't always this way. When the iPhone first launched, the built-in media player was actually known as the "iPod" app. It stayed that way for years, until being rebranded as "Music" starting with iOS 5.

Apple's modern naming scheme began in earnest with the debut of the Apple Watch -- a new product category that carried the unofficial moniker of "iWatch" among rumormongers before it was unveiled.

And while the upcoming HomePod speaker harkens back to the iconic iPod name, it adopts the latter portion instead of the "i."

Notably, well before iBooks became a service, Apple sold the iBook, a precursor to the MacBook.




Apple's very first "iProduct" was the iMac, with the "i" said to have stood for "Internet." The granddaddy of all "iProducts" remains very much a relevant part of Apple's lineup, with the same groundbreaking name still intact.

Given that the iPhone is essentially synonymous with modern smartphones, and the iPad defined modern tablets, it's unlikely that the "iProduct" naming scheme will disappear entirely anytime soon. Just don't expect to be reading any iBooks with your hypothetically-branded "iGlasses" anytime soon.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    Never liked the name iBooks for the eBook reading app, so I'm happy to see them changing it to what I think is far more appropriate. In the old days (about 15 years ago), the naming scheme of iProducts made sense. We had the iMac (consumer) and the PowerMac (pro). Same thing with iBook, and PowerBook. We only had iPod probably because PowerPod was not a product anyone would have been interested in.

    The "i" prefix does not have the same meaning anymore, so it makes sense they are phasing it out.
  • Reply 2 of 23
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    only a matter of time before Apple Video pops out of iTunes
  • Reply 3 of 23
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,796member
    Makes sense to me...
  • Reply 4 of 23
    65026502 Posts: 380member
    I'd say Apple's modern naming scheme began with AppleTV even though Jobs called it iTV a few times in the keynote.
    lolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 23
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,312member
    I like it. The legions of "i" product copycats will now have to redirect their product launches directly to the flea market and swap meet venues that are awash in junk that's just one small step for man removed from a landfill. 
    anton zuykov
  • Reply 6 of 23
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I'm very happy about the continued move away from the i-naming scheme, but names like iPhone and iMac aren't likely to go away.

    6502 said:
    I'd say Apple's modern naming scheme began with AppleTV even though Jobs called it iTV a few times in the keynote.
    The first demonstration for the Apple TV was unusual for many reasons. Jobs stated that the "iTV" name was just a placeholder. Then, about 4 months later if memory serves, they did another Apple TV demonstration… which most people don't remember since it literally happened right before amazing iPhone announcement.

    My guess on having two demonstrations and demoing a unit that didn't even have proper branding was because that demo wasn't for us (the consumer), but for studios so they could get onboard with offering TV shows and movies. They had the MGM/Disney umbrella onboard, but that was it. Apple failed miserably in that regard, but they were scared about piracy and from how Apple dominating the digital music with the iTunes Music Store.

    Obviously they finally got onboard, but damn did it take a long time. I forget if TV shows then were 480p or 320p (maybe that was just music videos), and then you had NBC jump in just to then jump out for awhile so they could try to launch Hulu once they saw there was a market.
    Rayz2016
  • Reply 7 of 23
    Wow. This is a "software update" headline?!

    This matters in any tangible way how?
  • Reply 8 of 23
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Wow. This is a "software update" headline?!

    This matters in any tangible way how?
    You don't think that rebranding of a well-worn trademark deserves a mention?
    lolliverpaxmanRayz2016
  • Reply 9 of 23
    Or, as I suggested last year, this renaming is just laying the groundwork for a notebook form iOS device.  iBook is the natural name for something like this, especially to distinguish from MacBooks.

    I know such a form has a lot of issues but it's not like Apple hasn't been thinking about how to resolve them for at least a decade.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 10 of 23
    Soli said:
    I'm very happy about the continued move away from the i-naming scheme, but names like iPhone and iMac aren't likely to go away.

    6502 said:
    I'd say Apple's modern naming scheme began with AppleTV even though Jobs called it iTV a few times in the keynote.
    The first demonstration for the Apple TV was unusual for many reasons. Jobs stated that the "iTV" name was just a placeholder. Then, about 4 months later if memory serves, they did another Apple TV demonstration… which most people don't remember since it literally happened right before amazing iPhone announcement.

    My guess on having two demonstrations and demoing a unit that didn't even have proper branding was because that demo wasn't for us (the consumer), but for studios so they could get onboard with offering TV shows and movies. They had the MGM/Disney umbrella onboard, but that was it. Apple failed miserably in that regard, but they were scared about piracy and from how Apple dominating the digital music with the iTunes Music Store.

    Obviously they finally got onboard, but damn did it take a long time. I forget if TV shows then were 480p or 320p (maybe that was just music videos), and then you had NBC jump in just to then jump out for awhile so they could try to launch Hulu once they saw there was a market.
    iMac is really the only exception at this point.  If it runs iOS, it's an "i" something (note that even iPod is now exclusively iOS).  If it runs MacOS, it's a "Mac" something.  If it runs anything else, it's now "Apple" something.  They just need to fix iTunes (in so many ways).
  • Reply 11 of 23
    I hope this means they're paying a little more attention to the app. iCloud sync of EPUB books breaks if you stare at it too hard. The store is dusty and buggy, feels like iOS 2 era App Store. Used to have some persistent bugs with downloading purchased titles, but that at least hasn't cropped up (for me) in the last year or so…
  • Reply 12 of 23
    So

    Apple iOS - > Apple OS


    tallest skil
  • Reply 13 of 23
    Soli said:
    You don't think that rebranding of a well-worn trademark deserves a mention?
    I think fixing iBooks (the app) to include even the same basic functionality that we had in editing ePub metadata when they were in iTunes would be worth a mention. Maybe some expansion to iBooks Author, too. Not all books are textbooks, Apple. Maybe I just want to create a simple ePub where I can turn the pages, one after another, always, rather than separately load every chapter because the format expects media functionality and inserted images…
  • Reply 14 of 23
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Wasn't the 2nd 'iProduct' Steve Jobs as iCEO? I feel that it was the first and came before the iMac but logically that can't be right, can it? Anyone remember?
  • Reply 15 of 23
    Pretty soon the iPad will just be called pad and soon everything i will be gone.
  • Reply 16 of 23
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Atomic77 said:
    Pretty soon the iPad will just be called pad and soon everything i will be gone.
    Tm Cook will introduce a video on Jony Ve querying Sr with your ArPods. :smiley: 


    Rayz2016Tuubor
  • Reply 17 of 23
    Waiting for one day when iPhone will be called Apple Phone.
  • Reply 18 of 23
    iTunes should be renamed Bunch-o-Junk. 
  • Reply 19 of 23
    normmnormm Posts: 653member
    tallest skil said:

    I think fixing iBooks (the app) to include even the same basic functionality that we had in editing ePub metadata when they were in iTunes would be worth a mention. Maybe some expansion to iBooks Author, too. Not all books are textbooks, Apple. Maybe I just want to create a simple ePub where I can turn the pages, one after another, always, rather than separately load every chapter because the format expects media functionality and inserted images…
    You can currently edit title, author, category and collection in list mode in iBooks.  You can create an ePub in Pages by exporting a Pages document to ePub.  If you use the ePub template in Pages you'll have chapter names, table of contents, etc.  If you've set non-DRM ePubs to open in iBooks, and have set iBooks to be stored in iCloud, all you need to do to add a book to iCloud is open it.  To export a copy of a non-DRM book from iCloud, just drag it out of iBooks.  I don't know how to change the cover in iBooks, which used to be possible in iTunes.  For fancier editing of non-DRM eBooks, though, just use Calibre.
    edited January 2018 williamlondon
  • Reply 20 of 23
    Soli said:
    I'm very happy about the continued move away from the i-naming scheme, but names like iPhone and iMac aren't likely to go away.

    6502 said:
    I'd say Apple's modern naming scheme began with AppleTV even though Jobs called it iTV a few times in the keynote.
    The first demonstration for the Apple TV was unusual for many reasons. Jobs stated that the "iTV" name was just a placeholder. Then, about 4 months later if memory serves, they did another Apple TV demonstration… which most people don't remember since it literally happened right before amazing iPhone announcement.

    My guess on having two demonstrations and demoing a unit that didn't even have proper branding was because that demo wasn't for us (the consumer), but for studios so they could get onboard with offering TV shows and movies. They had the MGM/Disney umbrella onboard, but that was it. Apple failed miserably in that regard, but they were scared about piracy and from how Apple dominating the digital music with the iTunes Music Store.

    Obviously they finally got onboard, but damn did it take a long time. I forget if TV shows then were 480p or 320p (maybe that was just music videos), and then you had NBC jump in just to then jump out for awhile so they could try to launch Hulu once they saw there was a market.
    It's possible that they realised the ITV name was already taken in the UK so backed away from the brand. It hasn't stopped them in the past but perhaps they just weren't so sold on the name anyway
    williamlondon
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