Editorial

Posted on 29 Jun 2009 at 16:14

 

Gallery

With one key press, Apple deleted the space between the iPhone's 3G and S.

Subtle, eh? First it was the iPhone 3G S, then it was the 3GS. In one fell swoop, Apple excised the space, closed up the gap and got everyone talking. Cynics could claim that it was a clever marketing ploy: a way to keep its million-in-three-days selling smartphone in the news. Realists would probably ask what it was playing at.

A space is such a small, inconsequential thing, until you ponder how long the company probably spent talking it over, testing it with focus groups, then getting it to look just right on its packaging, marketing and promotional material.

No reason has every been given for the change, but I suspect it was down to the fact that the media in general thought it looked odd on the page, and once we'd all closed up the space Apple felt compelled to follow suit. What a shame it doesn't always work like that.

Remember how awkward the MacBook sounded when it was first unveiled? PowerBook, fine: a strong, dynamic brand. MacBook: clumsy. If only we'd had confidence back then to band together and start calling it something else we could all now be typing on a Mobile Mac, a Packable Mac or a Mac in Black (although in fairness this would only work for half the range and would sound somewhat outdated today).

Perhaps we could get rid of all those 'i' names, too. iPhone, iPod, iMac. If we updated the 'i' every time they were upgraded we'd get rid of all the confusion over which edition you own. Need to know what memory you can put in your three-year old all-in-one Mac? Easy: that's a pMac; you don't need to know its speed or the date it was released, because it doesn't matter. Sure, it would dilute the brand, but Apple has proved with the subtle closure of that space that branding isn't nearly so important as we thought it was.

The point of all this?

It's a round-about apology. I can see now how difficult we in the press have made it for the world at large by blindly following manufacturers who think they know best when they thrust their poorly-considered brand names upon us. To make amends, we're set for a week of celebration in the MacUser office as we remember all that was great about Marathon bars and Opal Fruits, Jif and Ulay and the good old European Coal and Steel Community, which over the years has transmogrified into the not nearly so catchy EU.

Brand names define a product almost as much as its form itself. Say Office and Creative Suite, and you know immediately what those bundles do. '3G S', though? I'm not so sure. And, it would seem, neither was Apple.

Author: Nik Rawlinson