i, eye

iMac.

iPod.

iTunes.

iLife.

iWork.

iPhone.

iPad.

Apple Inc.'s "i"-themed names (and these are not all of them) touch on common, simple ideas like "tunes" and "work," and suggest that they "sum up" a product category. For that reason, the names are also a little creepy. Is "iLife" the company's attempt to sum up my life as a product? (Surely not: Apple makes better products than that.)

I don't recall that the "i" was ever explicitly defined to mean anything. "Internet"? "Interim"? (Remember, the "i" first appeared in Steve Jobs' job title after his Second Coming: "iCEO.")

It was only with yesterday's announcement of the new name for the iPhone OS that something clicked. The new name is "iOS." (I wonder if Cisco will have something to say about that, by the way.)

"OS" stands for "operating system," the software heart of any device. "iOS" fits neatly into the category-seizing pattern of the other "i" names. Although an operating system is not as grand a concept to have encompassed as "work" or "life" is, it's still a mighty claim to have staked out.

i ... i ... eye ...

Wait ... "eye"?

Eye ... of Sauron?

Now it all makes sense.

The "i" sees all!

Steve Jobs is Sauron!!