What does i mean in iPod etc...?

Question

Yeah, so ever since iPod released, you have been seeing i in almost a lot of products and brands. What does the i mean or represent?

Answer 1

Information, as in ICT  Information and Communications Technology.  At the beginning of an expression to do with ICT, it is now a shortcut to let you know it will be a technological device or program of some sort.  Eg IPhone, Itunes.

Answer 2

This is a translation of my own answer in Spanish to a similar question:

<< In the case of Apple, the original meaning of the "i" was "Internet" and it was used as part of the name of the "iMac" computer.

Steve Jobs himself talked about it when he introduced the first iMac in 1988 (Please go to the link [2] in the Source section below and watch the YouTube video). He meant that by using this computer, it would be easy and fast to connect to the Internet. During the presentation, Jobs showed a few words beginning with "i": internet, individual, instruct, inform, inspire.

The name seemed to be good and ever since Apple has used it (The "i") in many of its products.

Other companies use the "i" with the same meaning (Internet), while others use it to refer to the user (I = Me), meaning that their Web pages or portals can be customized, as www.igoogle.com.

Well, not all companies reveal or explain the real meaning of the letters they use as part of the names of their products and services, though we tend to assume certain meanings. >>

Answer 3

"Internet"

"The name iPod was proposed by Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter, who (with others) was called by Apple to figure out how to introduce the new player to the public. After Chieco saw a prototype, he thought of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and the phrase "Open the pod bay door, Hal!", which refers to the white EVA Pods of the Discovery One spaceship. Apple researched the trademark and found that it was already in use. Joseph N. Grasso of New Jersey had originally listed an "iPod" trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in July 2000 for Internet kiosks. The first iPod kiosks had been demonstrated to the public in New Jersey in March 1998, and commercial use began in January 2000, but had apparently been discontinued by 2001. The trademark was registered by the USPTO in November 2003, and Grasso assigned it to Apple Computer, Inc. in 2005."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPOD#Tradem...