TriPod, TelePod and Mobi were all potential names for Apple's iPhone
“Dude, where’s my TriPod?”
Or indeed, my Mobi or TelePod – all names that Apple had once considered calling the iPhone.
Apple’s former head of advertising, Ken Segall, revealed the once-potential smartphone names during a talk at the University of Arizona’s Department of Marketing, according to 9to5Mac.
Even the iPad name had once been bandied about in relation to the iPhone, interesting as it eventually reared its head to become Apple’s tablet branding.
Though we definitely prefer the iPhone name, the thinking behind the other pitched names is clear.
With the TelePod, you have the two main components that initially characterised the iPhone – its TELEphoning abilities and its iPOD functions.
The TriPod naming would also have sat well with Steve Jobs’ initial iPhone unveiling speech, in which he talked up the devices’ three pillars of functionality – internet connectivity, phone functions and iPod music playback.
Still they’re all a lot less elegant than the iPhone moniker, so well played to whoever put their vote in there.
