Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak On Why They Named Their Company Apple

There are a lot of rumors and legends about Apple. Some are of course exaggerations and myths, and some are pure fabrication in order to make Apple sound even more mysterious and secretive. To some extent, Apple has been the driving force behind this since they have gone to great lengths to preserve the shock value of their product unveilings. There has been a lot of talk about where exactly the Apple name came from when they decided to name the company.

There are several different stories out there, and a few of them have been dismissed after Steve Wozniak recently re-explained where the name Apple originated from. When you think about the name, you immediate think of gadgets and devices. But before Apple became a worldwide success, I can’t imagine people connecting the name or logo with a technology company, at least not in the same way that people refer to it today.

A couple weeks ago, I was walking down a street filled with stores and restaurants when I came across an Apple store. I was on the opposite side of the street looking directly at it, but a curious thought hit me. As I looked around at the other businesses around it, and their looming company names, I suddenly realized that none of them showed anything other than the name of the business itself. Apple is one of the few companies that title their stores with just their logo – no text whatsoever.

In order to reach that level of success, you have to introduce a lingering awareness in people about what the logo is all about. When you see the apple, you immediately know it’s an Apple product. So how did the name for Apple come about, and what is the real story behind it? What was it about the name Apple that stuck with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak?

Who better could explain it to us than the two founders themselves, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak? In these 1980s presentations, both founders take on the subject and explain (maybe for the first time back then) where exactly the name originated, and why they decided to keep it. Sometimes a name is just so simple and good that you have to keep it. Apple is a true testament to that.