In recent years, the letter "i" has become extremely popular in the tech world. There are iPhone, iPod, iGoogle, iDog, etc., but why has become so popular?
It all started a decade ago when the Apple iMac captured the imagination of a generation and the iPod and then spread to an entire product line.
Since then a lot of products have taken the letter "i", including interactive toys like the iDog and iTeddy, as several manufacturers have tried to capitalize on the success of the letter.
In 2008 even the BBC he boarded the train to the famous speech using it to its popular demand TV service, iPlayer. And last year the "i" was selected by readers of the BBC as one of the 20 words that defined the past decade, although not strictly qualify as a word.
Now The Independent, A newspaper in the UK, decided to launch a new lightweight edition of his newspaper targeted at young people, and entitled simply "i".
"I" as a synonym for "I"
"Today the use of the letter i is much more sophisticated than in the past when it came to be boarding the train of cool"Says Jonathan Gabay, a brand expert Forensic Brands Company.
According to him, the crowned with a simple line item reflects the participatory nature of advertising, encouraging people to share their electronic tastes with friends on sites like Facebook.
Since "I" in English means "I", the expert believes that "brands are doing their best to tell you that you're in charge, giving the product more credibility."
The growing importance of virtual world is the reason that explains why "i" with "blog" and "tweet" were part of the 20 words that defined the previous decade to readers of the BBC, according to linguist Susie Dent.
The language expert Tony Thorne says that single-letter prefixes have been in vogue since the nineties, first with e-mail and then the e-commerce.
But the "i" works better because its meaning has become "entirely ambiguous" he says.
On the internet meant iMac, but products like the iPod, people are wondering if the "i" refers to the Internet, information, individual or interactive analysis Thorne.
But experts warn that consumers may tire of the letter.
"People may find it irritating because it is very short" and "a very obscure reference," concludes Thorne.
