OS X: Weed - The Name Apple Almost Chose Instead of Yosemite?
If you've been keeping up with the social networks or following the latest Apple developments, you might have heard about this whole "OS X: Weed" thing already. Did Apple really consider naming its latest version of OS X after marijuana? Well, technically no. In this case Weed is actually the name of a small town in Northern California that most people don't even know about, and oh what a funny coincidence that it is located in the Northern half of California, an area commonly referred to as the Emerald Triangle, for obvious reasons.
Apple's speaker at this year's World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC), Craig Federighi, gave a very interesting and amusing speech about how the company came up with the name "OS X: Yosemite" by "collecting a crack product marketing team, shoving them in a VW mini bus, and sending them out on the road" to find the perfect California town to name the company's new Mac operating system after.
Federighi goes on to say that the crew initially considered "Oxnard" and "Rancho Cucamonga." We doubt these names were actually considered; instead they were probably mentioned in the presentation for sheer comedic value - they do sound funny don't they? He continues, "then they boldly ventured north, where they discovered OS X: Weed."
The crowd gave an enthusiastic and supportive cheer as if to hint that there were many cannabis-friendly techies in the house that night. As the cheer quieted down Craig humorously noted that "strangely, this one had large pockets of support within the product marketing organization," - not surprising considering the company is based in California, the home of medical marijuana, and Snoop Dogg.
But was there more than just a joke behind Apple's consideration of Weed, California? Do you really think Apple actually considered naming its an operating system such a controversial title? Well, we tend to think that they just used this as a playful marketing ploy to spice up the WWDC presentation. Then again, the name would have been well accepted by a huge percentage of Mac users, and it did start a backlash of social media frenzy and funny captioned pictures.
Don't believe us? Watch the video for yourself:
