Schiller schools internet on correct Apple device plurals, but Cook says 'iPad Pros'

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 52
    Phil is right. That is what the Apple style guide has said for many years. As for the iPhone spell checker not correcting the plural form, if manually you type it in, that is due to the generic rule that considers plurals to be the same as non-plurals.
  • Reply 42 of 52
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,417member
    Does Apple even use the full name Macintosh anywhere these days? 
  • Reply 43 of 52
    apple ][ said:
    I am siding with Tim Cook on this one. 

    Let's say that I am asking my friend how many iPads they own. Which of these am I going to choose?

    (1) How many iPad do you own?    
    (2) How many iPad devices do you own?
    (3) How many iPads do you own?

    I am obviously choosing #3, as that makes most sense, it's most logical, and anybody opting for #1 or #2 is just somebody who obviously must have various issues, hopefully none too serious.

    I am sorry, but saying "I have 3 Macintosh" just sounds semi-retarded, and I will have no part of it.

    "What about iPad? Do you only have one at home or does your wife have one? Do the kids have any?"
    "I love my iPad. I've had many over the years."
    "People love the iPad. They've been flying off the shelves."
    "Look in the ewaste recycling bin. Yet another iPad. There must be about a dozen in there already!"

    There are truckloads of ways to phrase things without putting an S on the end, if that is what is desired. I am well aware of Apple disliking the pluralisation of their devices and I never do it. It's always been this way with iOS devices.

    Anyway, people can do what they want. They will. My daughter left a pile of Legos on the ground. I told her to put her Lego away. In this example, the first feels foreign to me because I'm used to Lego meaning the whole set/pile. But Apple should protect their brand as they have and Tim Cook et al should phrase things to suit. Especially with odd product names like iPhone SE:

    My whole family went and bought iPhone SEs. 
    My whole family went and bought iPhones SE. 
    Everyone in my family has bought an iPhone SE. 

    It means every time the mark is displayed, it's displayed correctly. It also discouraged people from getting used to talking about googling things on Bing. 
    cornchip
  • Reply 44 of 52
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,464member
    apple ][ said:
    I am siding with Tim Cook on this one. 

    Let's say that I am asking my friend how many iPads they own. Which of these am I going to choose?

    (1) How many iPad do you own?    
    (2) How many iPad devices do you own?
    (3) How many iPads do you own?

    I am obviously choosing #3, as that makes most sense, it's most logical, and anybody opting for #1 or #2 is just somebody who obviously must have various issues, hopefully none too serious.

    I am sorry, but saying "I have 3 Macintosh" just sounds semi-retarded, and I will have no part of it.
    "How many iPad devices?" Can mean how many iPads or how many devices for your iPad. Also, does Apple not have a category for the iPad? Is it a computer or something else? The word "device" is so nondescriptive. 
    edited May 2016
  • Reply 45 of 52
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Phil is right. That is what the Apple style guide has said for many years. As for the iPhone spell checker not correcting the plural form, if manually you type it in, that is due to the generic rule that considers plurals to be the same as non-plurals.
    Can someone link to that article? 
  • Reply 46 of 52
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    asdasd said:
    Correct. It's absolutely not an adjective. It's part of a trade name, a compound noun. Might be easier to think of how you would pluralise were it called iPadPro or iPad-Pro. 

    Modern english doesnt have adjectives after the noun (that's the grammatical rule you should care about if you think the pro in iPad Pro is an adjective), what few cases that exist in English from the past (attorneys general, lords justice or editors in chief) are based on French influenced English from a long time ago, just as English used to use er or en like German for plurals (both in the plural of child) but all modern neologisms use s. 

    But most importantly pro is not a adjective in iPad Pro nor the MacBook Pro just part of the name (the model) , the plural adds an s. 
    If someone asked you "what color is the car?" and you answer "the car's blue" then the adjective comes after the noun thus blowing your modern English claim out of the water. 
    I was talking about Attributive adjectives of course. Not that's relevant because the pro in iPad Pro is a model. So it's not iPhones SE either. i still say Schiller is taking the piss. 
  • Reply 47 of 52
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    If he isn't he should have words with his marketing department as iPhones and macs are pluralised in this release. 

    http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/09/22First-Weekend-iPhone-Sales-Top-10-Million-Set-New-Record.html
  • Reply 48 of 52
    portcityportcity Posts: 68member
    He needs to focus on trying to sell more "iPad Pro devices" instead of trying to be an English professor. 
    tallest skil
  • Reply 49 of 52
    bobcubsfanbobcubsfan Posts: 54member
    The Los Angeles Times calls the iPad or iPhone and IPad or IPhone if it is the first word of a headline. Kind of calling e.e cummings E.E. Cummings. 
  • Reply 50 of 52
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    The very first response covered it. It all comes down to protecting the trademark. Incorrect pluralization in print can wreak havoc on protecting your marks.

  • Reply 51 of 52
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Has there been mention made (in this thread; I know it was discussed years ago) of Steve’s attempt to shift discourse from “the iPhone” to “iPhone”, as though there’s only one in existence and everyone just owns a time-shifted iteration thereof?
  • Reply 52 of 52
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    k chill phil, ur talkin 2 the net gen. We dont need no fing homie tellin us how to talk.
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