20 June 2010

McIntosh Apples


(Answering Jon)

Why is Macintosh called Macintosh?  Did Steve Jobs come up with that?  Ummmm... I don't know.
What even came first?  The Mac or the Apple?

Apple Computers, Inc. was established in 1976 (not until 2007 did they change the name to Apple Inc.) and the first computer Steves Jobs and Wozniak built was called the Apple I. 
Why Apple, though??  I'm still not sure.  Various answers float about the internet, such as:
  • (WikiAnswers) Steve gave his team members one day time to think about a good name of his company otherwise he will put the company name A for Apple.He got so many name at the end of the day but didn't like any one so he kept Apple.
  • In referenced to Sir Isaac Newton. 
  • In honor of the Beatles and their Apple Records.  I haven't read anything solid about this being true, although we do know that he is a big fan of the Beatles. He was quoted saying:
My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other's negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are not done by one person, they are done by a team of people.
  • (According to Khya, a new manager at an Apple store) "because it was Steve Job's favoirte fruit, yo."  And later, "At least that's what Steve said when I texted him."
The first Macintosh was not introduced until 1984.  Jobs wanted to name it after his favorite apple, the McIntosh, but had to change the spelling to Macintosh because there was an audio equipment company already named McIntosh.

McIntosh apples are actually really common in North America, used for applesauce, cider and pies.  They're the ones that are red and green!  There are internet rumors that Jobs used to work in an apple orchard, but I highly doubt it.

3 comments:

Jon Berry said...

Thanks, love!

Anonymous said...

Ok first of all the apple was first found by a scottish canadian imigrant by the name of John McIntosh in Dundela Ontario in 1811 (celebrated its 200th anniversary last yr september) and steve jobs named it after the apple - im his his 5th direct descendant so i know

Anonymous said...

The apple orchard story has been confirmed by Steve Wozniak a good decade or so ago actually. I did a quick search but couldn't find anything direct from Wozniak, but I did find this article, which is pretty much how I remember Woz telling the story: http://www.cultofmac.com/125656/this-lsd-love-guru-turned-gold-mining-billionaire-gave-steve-jobs-his-reality-distortion-field/