I before E is weird

The ‘rules’ of English spelling declare: “I before E, except after C” which is weird. But stranger still, over the past ten years, I really has led the way in the world of consumer technology.

Picture credit: alicepopkorn

Back at the turn of the century, though, E was predominant as the prefix for what was supposed to be new and exciting.

Of course, e-mail led the way and everyone [large and small] was soon desperate to do e-commerce and e-business. The letter e quickly became prepended to all manner of business terms, logos and taglines.

Then came the iPod and its stable-mate the iPhone. Very soon Apple will release the iPad, which will probably have no less an impact than its predecessors.

The success of the Apple iProducts has spawned a plethora of i-too nomenclature, supplanting the earlier e prefix,  in the hope that purchasers may make associations between aspirant products and proven winners.

The paradox though is that in the commercial world it’s difficult to apply the lower case iFad to the key term: Intellectual Property, which is all about capitals.