Sometimes there’s a great idea behind a name, sometimes there’s not. Sometimes a brands name has so much depth, meaning, a hidden secret or easter egg, and at other times, it’s just complete gibberish.

Journey with me, as I try to reconstruct the thoughts behind…

How the three biggest brands, came up with the name for their mobile platforms.

Apple

“Hey Steve! What should we call the operating system for our smartphones?”
– Well, we have the entire iPod, iPad, iMac, iThis, iThat, i’mRich going on, so why not…. iOS!
“Brilliant sir!”

Google

“Hey Larry, Sergey! Over here.. What, eh.. For our phones, any idea for a name for the platform?”
– Well, I’m sure that Sergey will agree.. It’s a small handheld device, that bears no resemblance to a humanoid whatsoever… so why not call it an Android?.. You know.. since it means “automaton in the form of a human being”? Whaddaya think Sergey?
– Larry, Larry, Larry.. You had me at Sergey.

Microsoft

“Hey Bill! Ol’ chap. What do we call the operating system for our phones?”
– Windows!
“No, we c… I mean.. it’ll confuse people if we..”
– Windows! Windows! Windows!!
“Sir, with all due respect, we already have the operating system for the computers called Windows.”
– .. Windows!… Phone!
“.. Brilliant, sir…”

.. or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.