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How Apple names things

nicolas.kruchten.com

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Re: How Apple names things

#151

Post by whatch »

efsavage wrote: post #148

I think Apple's decision to mostly name products based on dictionary words is a good one, and well-executed. Google tries this too but usually misses the mark a bit by being overly generic (Play, Chat, Calendar, etc.) and failing to build a brand around the products themselves. My main gripe with Apple is their decision to not version product names well, e.g. "The New iPad". This is fine for tech-savvy users who will…

"Play" is my favorite example. Even after a lot of years of using it I still cannot remember what is the current name for their "App Store" when I need to tell someone to look for some app there.

Re: How Apple names things

#152

Post by Jerrrry »

latexr wrote: post #110
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…?

> There are a lot of things to also hate about apples naming schemes Which you’re free to do, and could have done without insulting the author. The submitted post’s very first sentence is “I love the way Apple names things”. The author likes them. They’re sharing a opinion, at no point do they imply they’re the voice of reason or that you should agree with them. What I see from their post is someone who made an effor…

>instant tribalism

Im sure you feel similarly about anything related to Elon Musk, right?

HN circle jerks are so prevalent it's nearly transparent.

Re: How Apple names things

#153

Post by whynaut »

xnickb wrote: post #117
latexr wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are a lot of things to also hate about apples naming schemes Which you’re free to do, and could have done without insulting the author. The submitted post’s very first sentence is “I love the way Apple names things”. The author likes them. They’re sharing a opinion, at no point do they imply they’re the voice of reason or that you should agree with them. What I see from their post is someone who made an effor…

> they’re not harming anyone That is to be proven. Encouraging and advocating practices that are counterproductive can be harmful. Maybe you just don't see how one company is shaping the entire market because a group of people (we can call them fanboys for the sake of argument) insists that their way of doing things is "the" way. Which it of course isn't and we see how that is ruining products that try to compete. Se…

> a group of people (we can call them fanboys for the sake of argument) insists that their way of doing things is "the" way. Which it of course isn't

I missed this part in the tiny paragraph that says "I like these names"

Re: How Apple names things

#154

Post by karaterobot »

Wow, I disagree strongly with this one. It's so frustrating that I have to describe a feature to a search engine to find out what it's called, just so I can find it in the Settings (sorry, I mean System Preferences) panel. Continuity, Stage Manager, Exposé, Spotlight, Launchpad, Mission Control. These names don't mean anything, and aren't helpful. They're features, not products, yet they are named like products and you just have to be tapped into the marketing language Apple uses in order to know what's what.

Re: How Apple names things

#155

Post by robertoandred »

hnlmorg wrote: post #80
hollerith wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The subscrption is called Apple TV+.

Which is confusing. Why have a hardware product and a streaming service named identically aside the addition of a non-alphabetically symbol. When people talk about Apple TV I’m never quite certain which product they’re referring to and have to infer that from the context of their sentence.

Don't forgot the app! Use the Apple TV app to watch Apple TV+ on your Apple TV!

Re: How Apple names things

#156

Post by groovybits »

whatch wrote: post #151
efsavage wrote: post #148

I think Apple's decision to mostly name products based on dictionary words is a good one, and well-executed. Google tries this too but usually misses the mark a bit by being overly generic (Play, Chat, Calendar, etc.) and failing to build a brand around the products themselves. My main gripe with Apple is their decision to not version product names well, e.g. "The New iPad". This is fine for tech-savvy users who will…

"Play" is my favorite example. Even after a lot of years of using it I still cannot remember what is the current name for their "App Store" when I need to tell someone to look for some app there.

Is the Play Store no longer the name of Android's app store? I haven't looked at Android in a while.

I agree, "Play" is very generic. But I thought the name "Play Store" had become ubiquitous among Android users, even non-tech-savvy ones.

Re: How Apple names things

#157

Post by whynaut »

zootboy wrote: post #122
andirk wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such as "I like my Apple TV" probably implies the hardware box whereas "I like Apple TV" means the streaming service.

Except Apple loves to drop the articles when describing their hardware. E.g. "With iPhone, you can do X, Y, and Z!". So "I like Apple TV" could easily be referring to the hardware box in Applespeak.

but normal people don't, hence this never being an issue

Re: How Apple names things

#158

Post by philwelch »

easton wrote: post #90
vvillena wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a good idea to name a new OS "rOS" when ROS, the Robot Operating System, is already a thing.

I mean IOS was already a thing when they named the iPhone’s operating system that. In fact, I think they got in an argument with Cisco over it? Guessing they think of a consumer hasn’t likely heard of it it won’t be confusing.

There was also a lawsuit about Mac OS 9 and OS-9.

Re: How Apple names things

#159

Post by sbuk »

ant6n wrote: post #42
codetrotter wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Yes but How do you know which cat or geological feature corresponds to which version number?

Apple? https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201260

Wikipedia? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_version_history#Releas...

Re: How Apple names things

#160

Post by tosc »

xnickb wrote: post #117
latexr wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are a lot of things to also hate about apples naming schemes Which you’re free to do, and could have done without insulting the author. The submitted post’s very first sentence is “I love the way Apple names things”. The author likes them. They’re sharing a opinion, at no point do they imply they’re the voice of reason or that you should agree with them. What I see from their post is someone who made an effor…

> they’re not harming anyone That is to be proven. Encouraging and advocating practices that are counterproductive can be harmful. Maybe you just don't see how one company is shaping the entire market because a group of people (we can call them fanboys for the sake of argument) insists that their way of doing things is "the" way. Which it of course isn't and we see how that is ruining products that try to compete. Se…

Discouraging and disparaging practices that are helpful is also harmful. Have you considered that?

Also, Apple adopted these practices long before they had significant market share in any market. Nobody has been “forced” to adopt them in order to compete.

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