How long before Apple drops the iMac?
With Apple’s move to consistent naming of its computers, we’ve seen the emergence of the MacBook Pro and MacBook.
Rumors are that we’ll see “Mac Pro” replacing the PowerMac name. You’d also expect XServe to become MacServe (although that does sound like a meal at the golden arches)
But what about the iMac? Based on the emerging pattern, you’d expect sometime in the near future, for Apple to drop the iMac name in favor of simply “Mac”.
There’s only one catch with that. If all Apple computers are Macs, then would having one that is actually called a Mac confuse things?
And then what too of the rumored return of the eMac? Will it become the MacE? Or Mac Edu?
If the iMac does get a name change to come into line with the MacXXXX YYY naming convention, what do you think it will be renamed?
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I heard that the naming convention is simply to include the word “Mac” in the name of the product. Since the iMac already has “Mac” in the title (unlike the iBook or the Powerbook), I’d expect the name to stay the same.
And the PowerMac name will have to change to get away from the word “Power” so as not to be confused with the PPC Macs.
Let us rename the iMac; MacPanel and MacPanel Pro. The upcomming Quad Tower could be called MacBrick or MacBlock or MacMegaBrick or MacBlockBuster….. you get the idea.
Cheers:
Bob
No name changes to confusing, “I own a Mac. Which one? A Mac! Yea but which Mac? A Mac Mac. You know they changed the name of the iMac to Mac. That was a stupid idea, it makes things so confusing, why would apple do that? I know whoever thought of that idea is surely gettong fired now. Yea I agree!” Get the picture!!
iPod>>>iMac it’s that simple, nuff said.
when is the Pod Pro coming out?
apple should bring back old school names. i want an Mac IIIci or how about a Mac Quadra Core Duo. Man, that Quadra 800. How it used to exist only in my dreams.
Not being very creative in naming their current lineup goes along with Apple’s current theme these days - the K.I.S.S. simplicity mantra.
While the “MacBook” name is catchy. “Mac Pro” will do just fine either. But I doubt Jobs will re-christen the iMac with any other name. This line and its name is synonymous with the turn-around of Apple’s riches. It should be preached by Steve as sacred and untouchable, even to Steve himself. A saying goes: “Why kill the goose that lays [or have laid] the golden eggs.”
The success of the iMac in consumer brand-name consciousness jolted Apple as high as Coke, Marlboro, or SPAM (that’s not a joke!) around the world. You should see how this delicacy is prepared in Asia and Australia. Not too bad I must say myself.
Oh, back to the Mac-naming session. The iMac will be retained and will be carried down the pipe, filling the much-needed affordable home computer all-in-one package. The rumored eMac successor/iMac [mini? nano?] will be from the same platform to save cost. The eMac [genius?] will only be focused to education with their ideal config in mind - manageability and theft. The higher end iMacs will also be differentiated as in iMac ultra, mega, or old-school quadra (ideal for future quad-core CPUs)
The XServe becoming “Mac Serve” sounds too much like a bistro dude with all the beard, mustache and complete with a baritone voice as your waiter. Not the kind of name I’d want to associate a very cool (meaning all that power) computer. “Mac Server Pro” should fit the bill if they really have to rename it. To me, XServe is just kosher. Differentiate only by its subnames as in “XServe gflops, pflops [stating their speeds]”, “XServe air [as in no fans]”, or “XServe grid” to say they are super-cluster-ready.
Brandnames come and go… if Steve decided to drop the “i,” would anyone really give a poop a year from now?
In comparison, it is still far more absurd for Apple to ditch the “PowerBook” moniker. Talk about a brand that is synonymous with it’s company. The Powerbook preceded Apple’s introduction of the PowerPC by three years and remained in lineup for the twelve years thereafter. The roar that resulted from the MacBook name change has already died to whisper, and that was only five months ago.
If anyone has not caught on by now, Apple does what it wants, and (shock!) does not care what any of us think. Apple has always marched to their own beat, regardless to the song everyone else is singing.
But since we all like to hash amongst ourselves, I personally think dropping the “i” would make perfect sense, given the questionable road Steve has taken in renaming the company’s product line. It would make for good feng shui in a consumer marketing sense.
You want a laptop? Simple - MacBook or MacBook Pro.
A desktop you say? Easy - Mac Mini, Mac, or Mac Pro.
Heck then we might even get an ultralight MacBook Mini to even everything out. And since I’ve now wandered into speculative la-la land…
I would gladly pony up the cash for a small screen Mac, with maybe a 10-12” screen, a sort of freakish offspring of the original Mac and an iPod, all on a nifty nifty little pedestal… now that would be sweet…
If we keep this up, we will soon have a MacPod.
The iMac is such a strong brand in itself and there isn’t really a ‘real’ reason to change it.
Having said that, there have been three iMacs. Perhaps on the next version there will be a name change but I doubt it.
wow - people care this much about the name on the box?