The iPhone, the iPad, each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad(一时的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” – and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer – which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet –adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear – popular in the US and UK – that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.

　　In general, single-letter prefixes (前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.

　　Most “i” products are targeted at young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.

　　But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.

　　“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便) .”adds Thorne.

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