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Ah, the answer to one of life’s most puzzling questions.
We’ve all had those moments, right? Lying awake at night, trying to get some sleep, but our minds keep wandering. We start thinking about big life questions: What came first, the chicken or the egg? Has the water we’re drinking ever touched a dinosaur? Or, the big one: What does the ‘I’ in iPhone stand for?
No? Just me? Well, if you’ve ever found yourself wondering about how the iPhone got its name, today is your lucky day.
The first iPhone was released in 2007, and it wasn’t just the device that grabbed people’s attention. It was the logo, too—like, what’s the deal with the apple?
Many have speculated that it’s a reference to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve or the apple that supposedly fell on Isaac Newton’s head. However, graphic designer Rob Janoff, who created the Apple logo, has dismissed these theories as “wonderful urban legends.”
So, with all that in mind, many of us probably never gave much thought to what the ‘I’ actually stands for.
But, as always, social media came alive with guesses. Some were pretty good, too.
What Could the ‘I’ Stand For?
Some people suggested the ‘I’ could stand for words like ‘intelligent’ or ‘indispensable.’ One social media user even suggested it could simply mean ‘I’ as in ‘my phone.’
Fortunately, we don’t have to guess anymore. The late Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, revealed the true meaning behind the ‘I’ back in 1998. And, spoiler alert—it’s more than just one word.
According to Reader’s Digest, Steve Jobs explained that the ‘I’ stands for ‘internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire.’ That’s a lot of words for just one letter, right?
However, Jobs also clarified that the ‘I’ didn’t have an official meaning. He added that it could also refer to ‘I’ as in a personal pronoun, or as a reference to ‘instruction’ for teaching Apple’s employees.
People React to the Big Reveal
The reveal left many people surprised, especially considering the ‘I’ stands for not one, but five different words. It definitely threw some people for a loop.
On a TikTok and YouTube video about the topic, one person commented, “I thought it was i for myself,” while another guessed it meant ‘intelligent.’ A third person thought it was because of iOS.
One YouTube user even joked, “I guess you could say, ‘i’ didn’t know this before.”
And another person shared, “This is what I wondered last night when I was trying to sleep…”
Looks like social media users aren’t alone in their midnight musings. Same here, folks. Same here!
