Back in November, our own personal Aleister Crowley of Cult of Mac, Leander, sat down and interviewed Ken Segall, the originator of the iMac name. According to Segall, Steve Jobs recognized he was “betting the company on the machine and so it needed a great name.” The only problem: the name Jobs had his heart set on was so bad it would “curdle your blood.” The original product name? MacMan, says Gizmodo.

Luckily, at the end of the day, iMac won out… but it wasn’t because Jobs let himself be swayed, according to Gizmodo’s sources, but rather because the name was already trademarked by a company called MidiMan, who had released a serial-to-MIDI adapter under that brand name. Apple made an offer; Midiman declined; Steve Jobs fumed and Segall got his way.

MacMan is, indeed, a blood-curdling name for a computer, but you can see the method in Jobs’ madness: bulbous and colorful, there is something about the original iMac’s design that channels the bouncing fruits of the famous 8-bit ghost gobbler… but it’s a name that would need to be abandoned as soon as the design was changed.

It’s interesting how different the entire Mac brand could be now if not for the serendipity of Jobs’ initial whim being thwarted. The lower case ‘i’ has transcendeded its initial meaning — Internet — and become a brand in its own right: an elegant prefix synonymous with iconic Apple product design.

– John Brownlee (Jan. 14, 2010)

Donald Trump had hardly finished his self-congratulation on the Obama birth issue when his own credibility was suddenly, and forcefully, attacked.

It began at the White House Dinner when Obama roasted Trump with surprising and well-delivered wit. The verbal smackdown then went viral on YouTube, national talk shows, and news broadcasts. The president concluded his comic lashing with a pointed comment about there being “more serious issues” to focus on. 24-hours later that would prove to be the understatement of the year. With poetic irony, Obama’s dramatic announcement preempted the final minutes of Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice.

Since then, Trump has become the butt of Facebook and Twitter jabs, and late night jokes including one from David Letterman which prompted Trump to cancel his May 18th appearance. When The Donald cancels an appearance on a national talk show like Letterman, you know he’s in retreat mode.

In trying to raise his political profile via public attacks on Obama, Trump seems to have grabbed the baton from a quickly fading Sarah Palin. Like Palin, Trump is no stranger to public criticism and comedic jabs. Some may even argue that he thrives on it. However, the multiple hits that the Trump brand suffered this weekend will definitely cause some re-consideration of his presidential bid. And, at least in the short term, it may even get him to shut up.

Humor is one of the best ways to sell a product. Obama just proved it’s also one of the best ways to elevate oneself over an opponent (watch this video from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner).

Note: Based on Trump’s hijinks, I think the king of personal branding has just branded himself as the new Sarah Palin.

There was a time when a friend was truly a friend, and “to like” something meant you really did. That was before Facebook.

On Facebook these words don’t have quite the same meaning they do off Facebook. You have your friends, and then you have your Facebook friends. Yes, they can be the same, but whenever you can “add a friend” by clicking a button there’s going to be the tendency to loosen your standards, especially with something so public where having lots of friends makes you look popular and cool. (My 15-year old niece has 749 friends) Now the question is: Do they Like you? (more…)

#1) “Out of the box” This was an OK expression about 15 years ago. Today, it’s very in-the box.

#2) “Re-invent” Time to re-invent a better expression.

When it comes to health, career, and child custody, he may not be winning. But he knows how to build a Twitter following: 2 days. 1,574,618 followers.

Put Online a Happy Face | The Harvard Crimson

Last year, Pepsi did something it hadn’t done in 23 years. It chose not to run a Super Bowl spot. Instead, it took the $20 million that it spent on the previous year’s game and spent it on a social media driven contest. With a blend of philanthropy, guerrilla branding, and PR the Pepsi Refresh contest invited people to submit their ideas and compete for votes to win grants ranging from $5,000 to $250,000.

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