daemon@decwrl.UUCP (02/03/84)
From: topcat::lamia (Walt Lamia MKO1-1/A11 264-7772) I view of Apple's use of the Mac{name_of_program} naming convention, I wonder if there might be some conflict with that other purveyor of Mac's, the redoubtable MacDonald's chain. There have often been jesting references to MacDonald's getting into the information vending business, but I wonder if they haven't given it some serious thought. Anyway, wouldn't it be interesting if there developed a trademark war over the user of the "Mac*" appellation? "I think I feel a Big Mac[*.*;*] attack coming..." Walter Lamia UUCP: ...{decvax,allegra,ucbvax}!decwrl!rhea!topcat!lamia ARPA: decwrl!rhea!topcat!lamia@SU-Shasta
jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (02/09/84)
I noticed that the computer Apple is called "Macintosh" while the fruit apple is called "McIntosh". I thought this difference was silly, since I figured the computer was probably named after the fruit. My original guess was that "McIntosh" was a registered trade mark for the fruit, or something like that, and the Apple computer company wasn't allowed to use it. However, I now think that the reason for the different spelling is to avoid a possible legal conflict with McDonalds, since they use the "Mc" prefix for things like McRib, Chicken McNuggets and Mayor McCheese, and Apple wanted to do the same thing with MacWrite and MacPaint.
spoo@utcsrgv.UUCP (Suk Lee) (02/10/84)
As explained in the February Byte, the MacIntosh is spelled that way because it was originally mis-spelled that way. The had meant to spell it McIntosh, but on some early documentation spelled it MacIntosh--and later decided to keep it that way. I don't believe that the name "McIntosh" is trademarked. The apples are named after the farmer who first started growing the famous apple tree (which he found on a portion of his Ontario farm). -- From the pooped paws of: Suk Lee ..!{decvax,linus,allegra,ihnp4}!utcsrgv!spoo