iLand

We live in a world of iPhones, iPads, iTunes, iEtc. The first time I saw a brand name that began with a small i and had the second letter capitalized was, surprisingly enough, not Apple. It was Motorola.
 
I had started working at the cellular carrier Nextel after working nine years in manufacturing. In my prior job, I had worked my way up from an entry level job to Controller. After that job ended I was a bit unsure of myself; would I be able to do as good of a job somewhere else or was my past success a fluke. So it was very gratifying a couple months later to hear my new boss tell all the managers in our weekly meeting that he finally was getting the financial data he needed to run the business.
 
Nextel was in the process of rolling out their digital cellular around the country using technology from Motorola. Motorola had branded that technology as iDen. So, Motorola gets the nod for the earlier use of the small i back in the 1990's. Apple gets the nod for the cooler names.
 
The work I had done got me some notice within the company and I was chosen to be a member of the team that was developing the new budget spreadsheet for the company. At one point, we were all meeting in San Francisco to go over the final version. One thing on the agenda for the meeting was to name the spreadsheet. I forget what the name ended up being. My suggestion must have been voted down; I'm not sure why. I had left the meeting early. Perhaps, if I had been there to speak up for my suggestion maybe it would have turned out differently. The name I wanted was iPlan.
 
Just think I might have been iCool before Apple. Or alternatively, since I am talking about a spreadsheet, it could be that I would have just been an iGeek.
 
OK, enough of that, iDone.
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