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All Hail the Telepod: Steve Jobs's Discarded iPhone Names Are Horrible

Now we know the alternate reality that is "The World Of The Mobi."

Yesterday, former Apple advertising head Ken Segall spoke at the University of Arizona's Department of Marketing and shared a few factoids about the iPhone's development under Steve Job's watch. 9to5Mac was in the audience, and detailed a few back up names that the Apple team considered before settling on the now-ubiquitous "iPhone." Let's all take a minute to be thankful that we're not snapchatting on our "Mobis."

The iPhone wasn't originally going to be called "iPhone." Segall told the crowd that Jobs considered "Telepod," "Tripod," "Mobi," "MicroMac," and even "iPad" (this was before Apple was imagining the actual iPad) prior to settling on what became perhaps Apple's most successful device ever.

Even though the rejected names were put in the Apple compost pile of mediocre ideas, the back-up names made a "big impact" on Apple's initial marketing plans for the device. "Tripod," for example, was meant to signify the iPhone's mixing of phone, iPod and internet technology -- but this name was ultimately tossed, most likely due to the iPhone's being representative of infinite technologies, not just three.

9to5Mac also notes that the name "iPhone" was originally controversial because Cisco "owned the 'IPHONE' trademark for its IP-based phone system." The two companies had to make a deal before Apple could make the name part of its legacy.

So now we know the alternate reality that is "The World Of The Mobi." If you originally weren't hot on the name "iPhone" at least you know it could have been much worse.