4 ms·

> Apple brands have the correct capitalisation. Priorities hey! To me that's really embarrassing and insecure. But I'm sure for branding people it's very impor

by andy99 1y ago

> Apple brands have the correct capitalisation. Priorities hey! To me that's really embarrassing and insecure. But I'm sure for branding people it's very important.

WillAdams 1y ago
Legal requirement to maintain a trademark.
- grues-dinner 1y ago
  In what way would (A|a)pple's own AI writing "imac" endanger the trademark? Is capitalisation even part of a word-based trademark? I'm more surprised they don't have a rule to do that rather grating s/the iPhone/iPhone/ transform (or maybe it's in a different file?).
  - sbierwagen 1y ago
    Yes, proper nouns are capitalized. And of course it's much worse for a company's published works to not respect branding-- a trademark only exists if it is actively defended. Official marketing material by a company has been used as legal evidence that their trademark has been genericized: >In one example, the Otis Elevator Company's trademark of the word "escalator" was cancelled following a petition from Toledo-based Haughton Elevator Company. In rejecting an appeal from Otis, an examiner from the United States Patent and Trademark Office cited the company's own use of the term "escalator" alongside the generic term "elevator" in multiple advertisements without any trademark significance.[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - lupire 1y ago
      Using a trademark as a noun is automatically genericizing. Capitalization of a noun is irrelevant to trademark. Even Apple corporation says that in their trademark guidance page, despite constantly breaking their own rule, when they call through iPhone phones "iPhone". But Apple, like founder Steve Jobs, believes the rules don't apply to them. https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/trademark/appletmlist.html https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/trademark/...
      - eastbound 1y ago
        That explains why Steve Jobs never said “buy an iPhone” or “buy the iPhone” but “buy iPhone” (They always use it without “the” or “a”, like “buying a brand”).
      - lxgr 1y ago
        Is that true? If so, what else should Apple call the iPhone in their marketing materials? I always thought the actual problem of genericization would be calling any smartphone an iPhone.
    - lxgr 1y ago
      Sure, but software that autocompletes/rewords users' emails and text messages is not marketing material. Otherwise, why stop there? Why not have the macOS keyboard driver or Safari prevent me from typing "Iphone"? Why not have iOS edit my voice if I call their Bluetooth headphones "earbuds pro" in a phone call?
      - socalgal2 1y ago
        Sounds like you found your next promotion at Apple. They can change anything. "I like Pepsi" -> "I like Coke" -> "I recommend Company A" -> "I recommend Company B". etc... "I'm voting for Candidate C" -> "I'm voting for Candidate D" You can market it is helping people with strong accents to be able make calls and be less likely to be misunderstood. It just happens to "fix" your grammar as well.
      - kube-system 1y ago
        Because in regards to the rights to a trademark, what is critical is the use of the word in trade -- not just "marketing material" nor your phone calls to your friends.
        lxgr 1y ago
        So if I write a business email to my colleague, if Apple doesn't autocorrect "Iphone" to "iPhone" in it, they risk losing the trademark?
        kube-system 1y ago
        Your emails aren't very relevant. But the way Apple's represents their product is.
  - spauldo 1y ago
    I love seeing posts about Emacs from IOS users - it's always autocorrected to "eMacs."
    - lxgr 1y ago
      Maybe at some point, but as far as I can tell not anymore (while corrections like "iphone -> iPhone" are still there).
      - chgs 1y ago
        eMacs certainly is broken on my phone. Vim is fine though.
      - spauldo 1y ago
        That's good news. It was always funny watching people post in the Emacs subreddit from their iPhones, but it did cause a bit of confusion for those too young to know what an eMac was.
  - WillAdams 1y ago
    Imagine how a court case would go where a lawyer wheeled in a Mac and noted it was a default OS install and projected onto a screen the results of querying Apple's AI about Apple products and it failed to adhere to the trademark guidelines.
- lxgr 1y ago
  In their own marketing language, sure, but to force this on their users' speech? Consider that these models, among other things, power features such as "proofread" or "rewrite professionally".
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- bigyabai 1y ago
  If Apple Intelligence is going to be held legally accountable, Apple has larger issues than trademark obligations.
whywhywhywhy 1y ago
To be fair to the developers it's something an Apple exec is gonna point out when demoed the tech and complain about. They've always taken brand capitalization and grammar around their products seriously.

by andy99 1y ago

> Apple brands have the correct capitalisation. Priorities hey! To me that's really embarrassing and insecure. But I'm sure for branding people it's very important.

WillAdams 1y ago

Legal requirement to maintain a trademark.

grues-dinner 1y ago
In what way would (A|a)pple's own AI writing "imac" endanger the trademark? Is capitalisation even part of a word-based trademark? I'm more surprised they don't have a rule to do that rather grating s/the iPhone/iPhone/ transform (or maybe it's in a different file?).
- sbierwagen 1y ago
  Yes, proper nouns are capitalized. And of course it's much worse for a company's published works to not respect branding-- a trademark only exists if it is actively defended. Official marketing material by a company has been used as legal evidence that their trademark has been genericized: >In one example, the Otis Elevator Company's trademark of the word "escalator" was cancelled following a petition from Toledo-based Haughton Elevator Company. In rejecting an appeal from Otis, an examiner from the United States Patent and Trademark Office cited the company's own use of the term "escalator" alongside the generic term "elevator" in multiple advertisements without any trademark significance.[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - lupire 1y ago
    Using a trademark as a noun is automatically genericizing. Capitalization of a noun is irrelevant to trademark. Even Apple corporation says that in their trademark guidance page, despite constantly breaking their own rule, when they call through iPhone phones "iPhone". But Apple, like founder Steve Jobs, believes the rules don't apply to them. https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/trademark/appletmlist.html https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/trademark/...
    - eastbound 1y ago
      That explains why Steve Jobs never said “buy an iPhone” or “buy the iPhone” but “buy iPhone” (They always use it without “the” or “a”, like “buying a brand”).
    - lxgr 1y ago
      Is that true? If so, what else should Apple call the iPhone in their marketing materials? I always thought the actual problem of genericization would be calling any smartphone an iPhone.
  - lxgr 1y ago
    Sure, but software that autocompletes/rewords users' emails and text messages is not marketing material. Otherwise, why stop there? Why not have the macOS keyboard driver or Safari prevent me from typing "Iphone"? Why not have iOS edit my voice if I call their Bluetooth headphones "earbuds pro" in a phone call?
    - socalgal2 1y ago
      Sounds like you found your next promotion at Apple. They can change anything. "I like Pepsi" -> "I like Coke" -> "I recommend Company A" -> "I recommend Company B". etc... "I'm voting for Candidate C" -> "I'm voting for Candidate D" You can market it is helping people with strong accents to be able make calls and be less likely to be misunderstood. It just happens to "fix" your grammar as well.
    - kube-system 1y ago
      Because in regards to the rights to a trademark, what is critical is the use of the word in trade -- not just "marketing material" nor your phone calls to your friends.
      - lxgr 1y ago
        So if I write a business email to my colleague, if Apple doesn't autocorrect "Iphone" to "iPhone" in it, they risk losing the trademark?
        kube-system 1y ago
        Your emails aren't very relevant. But the way Apple's represents their product is.
- spauldo 1y ago
  I love seeing posts about Emacs from IOS users - it's always autocorrected to "eMacs."
  - lxgr 1y ago
    Maybe at some point, but as far as I can tell not anymore (while corrections like "iphone -> iPhone" are still there).
    - chgs 1y ago
      eMacs certainly is broken on my phone. Vim is fine though.
    - spauldo 1y ago
      That's good news. It was always funny watching people post in the Emacs subreddit from their iPhones, but it did cause a bit of confusion for those too young to know what an eMac was.
- WillAdams 1y ago
  Imagine how a court case would go where a lawyer wheeled in a Mac and noted it was a default OS install and projected onto a screen the results of querying Apple's AI about Apple products and it failed to adhere to the trademark guidelines.
lxgr 1y ago
In their own marketing language, sure, but to force this on their users' speech? Consider that these models, among other things, power features such as "proofread" or "rewrite professionally".
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
bigyabai 1y ago
If Apple Intelligence is going to be held legally accountable, Apple has larger issues than trademark obligations.

whywhywhywhy 1y ago

To be fair to the developers it's something an Apple exec is gonna point out when demoed the tech and complain about. They've always taken brand capitalization and grammar around their products seriously.