How Apple names things • Hacker News Board

Re: How Apple names things

#31

Post by codetrotter » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 8:41 AM UTC

ralfd wrote: post #26

sbuk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * Also the naming scheme of Mac OS versions, i can never figure out which one came before or after the other, there is no rhyme or reason. Why dont they use alphabetical sorted names? Or years/numbers like Windows…?* They do. Ventura is macOS 13. In fact, when they dropped OS X, they did a bit in the key note explaining that instead of it being OS X 10.16 Catalina, it would now now be macOS 11 Catalina. See  > Abo…

But did Mojave come before or after Sierra? The cat names were more memorable and spanned a longer time line instead of being yearly releases.

> But did Mojave come before or after Sierra?

Idk, but it doesn’t matter. If you need to know which version came before or after just compare the version numbers instead. The human names are not meant for that.

Re: How Apple names things

#32

Post by jonas-w » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 8:43 AM UTC

tacker2000 wrote: post #19

This reads like some typical fanboi stuff. There are a lot of things to also hate about apples naming schemes, just look at the pro, max, se nonsense they cooked up. Also the naming scheme of Mac OS versions, i can never figure out which one came before or after the other, there is no rhyme or reason. Why dont they use alphabetical sorted names? Or years/numbers like Windows…?

https://xkcd.com/1056/

Re: How Apple names things

#33

Post by codetrotter » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 8:43 AM UTC

tacker2000 wrote: post #19

This reads like some typical fanboi stuff. There are a lot of things to also hate about apples naming schemes, just look at the pro, max, se nonsense they cooked up. Also the naming scheme of Mac OS versions, i can never figure out which one came before or after the other, there is no rhyme or reason. Why dont they use alphabetical sorted names? Or years/numbers like Windows…?

> the naming scheme of Mac OS versions, i can never figure out which one came before or after the other, there is no rhyme or reason. Why dont they use alphabetical sorted names? Or years/numbers like Windows…?

The human names of the macOS versions are not meant for that purpose.

Every version of macOS also has a version number. If you need to ever know which version came before another you compare the version number.

Re: How Apple names things

#34

Post by jiggywiggy » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 8:45 AM UTC

stringByAppendingString:(NSString) is probably one of my favorites namings of Apple. Short and concise.

Re: How Apple names things

#35

Post by jodrellblank » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 8:56 AM UTC

changoplatanero wrote: post #13

Mistletoe wrote: post #6

[flagged]

The first thing on your list, Apple Watch, is only the most successful watch of all time and a ten billion dollar a year business. If that doesn’t satisfy you as something new then I don’t know what would

AirPods are also a completely new multi-billion/year business, and competitors went from “we’re keeping a headphone socket” to releasing their own weirdly shaped headphones in charging boxes very quickly.

Re: How Apple names things

#36

Post by ChuckNorris89 » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 9:01 AM UTC

emadabdulrahim wrote: post #20

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #10

I always wonder why, out of all the mobile products, is the Apple Watch the only one not called the iWatch? iPod, iMac, iPhone, iPad ... Apple Watch? Feels like somewhere along the line they decided that naming all their products something with the letter 'i' was silly and dropped it.

Because Apple is a tech company, but also considered a luxury brand. A watch is mostly a fashionable accessory. iWatch would've been a gadget-first name. Apple Watch sounds much better if you're trying to sell it to fashion aware people, besides people interested in the best tech. That's my theory anyway. Probably wrong lol.

>Apple Watch sounds much better if you're trying to sell it to fashion aware people

Fashion aware people are mostly wearing traditional watches or go for colorful oversized G-Shocks if they're some celebrity looking to make a bold statement or something.

I recommend 'The Urban Gentry' on Youtube.

Re: How Apple names things

#37

Post by spongeb00b » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 9:03 AM UTC

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #10

I always wonder why, out of all the mobile products, is the Apple Watch the only one not called the iWatch? iPod, iMac, iPhone, iPad ... Apple Watch? Feels like somewhere along the line they decided that naming all their products something with the letter 'i' was silly and dropped it.

The Apple Watch is the only one of those products post Steve Jobs. Since then they have specifically removed that prefix from the OS too, e.g. iPhoto > Photos

Re: How Apple names things

#38

Post by fastball » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 9:09 AM UTC

tacker2000 wrote: post #19

This reads like some typical fanboi stuff. There are a lot of things to also hate about apples naming schemes, just look at the pro, max, se nonsense they cooked up. Also the naming scheme of Mac OS versions, i can never figure out which one came before or after the other, there is no rhyme or reason. Why dont they use alphabetical sorted names? Or years/numbers like Windows…?

What reads as fanboi stuff? This is a visualization with surprisingly little editorializing.

Re: How Apple names things

#39

Post by Closi » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 9:12 AM UTC

lwneal wrote: post #16

Apple's system strikes an interesting contrast to Google's system for naming products, documented at [1]. [1] https://bonkersworld.net/naming-dartboard

Ah yes -

Go -> A programming language created by Google

Google Go -> An android app to help you search

Android Go -> A lightweight version of Android created by Google.

Re: How Apple names things

#40

Post by aaronharnly » Thu, Dec 22, 2022, 9:20 AM UTC

Hmm, the topic is a nice one, but I think it proves the adage, “a force-directed graph visualization is never the right way to articulate anything.” It’s very hard to discern much of interest.