Apple was on the agenda with its most iconic product, Macintosh computers, in the years when it first appeared on the market and iPhones were not even invented yet.
But why did Apple choose to use the name ‘Macintosh’ in this product, instead of using the name “computer” like its competitors? Let’s learn together the story behind this different name.
Let’s look at the story of the name Mac, starting with the first Macintosh computer.
The first Macintosh computer was unveiled in front of Apple shareholders in California on January 24, 1984 by Steve Jobs. This Macintosh, which met with intense interest over time, had a 9-inch screen, 128k memory and 3.5mhz processor. Although these numbers are considered very small today, they were seen as a great technological innovation with the technology of that time. The fact that the Macintosh was innovative and produced in a size that could be considered small for its time has radically changed the history of personal computers.
The Macintosh takes its name from a type of apple called McIntosh.
Steve Jobs tried different diets in his personal life. While doing the fruit diet, which is one of these diets he tried, he visits the apple farm and decides that the name of the company they will establish with his 3 partners is apple. Just as the company’s name comes from an apple, its computers are named after the Macintosh, a type of apple called ‘McIntosh’. The name of the ‘Macintosh’ is decided by Jef Raskin, who is responsible for the company’s computer project, which will be called ‘Macintosh’ in the future.
In an interview in 2003, Raskin says that the reason he decided on the name ‘Macintosh’ was because he liked the taste of McIntosh apples. The reason why Macintosh is preferred over McIntosh is that there is another company called McIntosh. Apple solves this copyright issue by adding the letter ‘a’ to McIntosh, giving birth to the company’s iconic computers.
Let’s also touch on this famous McIntosh apple:
The red and green skinned apple, called McIntosh Red, is known as Canada’s national apple. This apple is named after Canadian farmer John McIntosh, who discovered an unspecified apple seedling while clearing his farm in 1811, liked the taste of the apples in the seedling, and propagated this apple seedling. The name McIntosh means ‘chief’s son’. This type of apple, which likes cold climates, is very popular in Canada and the United States; You can think of it like our Amasya apple.
So how did this ‘Macintosh’ become a Mac name?
Apple employees preferred the abbreviation ‘Mac’ to keep customers and media in mind when ‘Macintosh’ first came out. Based on this nickname, which is easy to say according to the ‘Macintosh’, Apple considers the abbreviation ‘Mac’ appropriate for Macintosh’s applications such as MacPaint and MacWrite, and when the year 1997 was entered, the company decided to use the name of the operating system as MacOS and moved towards the name ‘Mac’. making lasting changes. In 1998, the first computer with the name ‘Mac’ named iMac is introduced and now the series of iconic computers of the company is called ‘Mac’. The company seems to use the name ‘Mac’ to show the difference and quality of its products, as well as to stay in the minds of its users.
What do you think about the story of the name ‘Mac’? Do you think it was inspired by the apple variety?
Sources: How To Geek, Apple Scoop, The U Junkie
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