'Freedom'! This is what Steve Jobs initially wanted to name Apple's browser Safari

Don Melton, an old Apple employee who was part of the safari project, has revealed that Steve Jobs was fixated on the name 'Freedom'.

Agencies
If Steve Jobs, an American entrepreneur and industrial designer, had his way, Apple's Safari, as we know it now and which is an essential component of Apple's systems, might not have been called Safari. Today, many devices, including the Mac, iPhone, iPod, and iPad, include Safari. It has a fantastic design and improved security features.

Don Melton, an old Apple employee who was part of the safari project, has revealed that Jobs was fixated on the name 'Freedom'. He had spent quite a lot of time trying to convince the team of this name. Freedom signified their freedom from Microsoft and Internet Explorer, the browser they depended on at that time. It also provoked positive imagery of being set free.

Several names were pitched during the development stages of the browser, including Alexander. Named after Alexander the Great, they wanted a name that was simple to call out and easy to remember as well. The string of Alexander was also all over the code and in their resources as well. Some Apple employees jokingly referred to this browser as "iBrowser" when asked about the final name.



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On Steve Jobs's birth anniversary, we take a trip down memory lane and remember the contributions made by a man who was not afraid to give it his best shot, irrespective of the outcome.

On Steve Jobs's birth anniversary, we take a trip down memory lane and remember the contributions made by a man who was not afraid to give it his best shot, irrespective of the outcome.

The former Apple CEO was born in 1954 to Joanne Carole Schieble, whose father disapproved of her relationship with Steve's father, forbidding her from marrying him. So Schieble put the child up for adoption, - who found his new parents in Paul and Clara Jobs. Since neither of them had gone to college, Steve's birth mother agreed to let Jobs have the child after they promised they'd send the kid to college.

The former Apple CEO was born in 1954 to Joanne Carole Schieble, whose father disapproved of her relationship with Steve's father, forbidding her from marrying him. So Schieble put the child up for a..
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While Jobs did go to college, Reed College in Portland, to be exact, he soon dropped out. Though he continued taking classes and also credited his calligraphy class for the Mac's multiple typefaces and proportionally spaced fonts. (photo: allaboutstevejobs)

While Jobs did go to college, Reed College in Portland, to be exact, he soon dropped out. Though he continued taking classes and also credited his calligraphy class for the Mac's multiple typefaces a..
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Jobs met Steve Wozniak in 1971 through mutual friends and the two hit it off. In 1976, Jobs suggested selling the Apple Mac I after Wozniak showed it to him. Together, along with Ronald Wayne, they then sold their belongings to start Apple Computer in Jobs's garage in 1976. (photo: allaboutstevejobs)

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After putting around a decade in Apple, Jobs was ousted from the company in 1985. He resigned and took five other senior Apple employees from him. But it was just the beginning of a great story.

After putting around a decade in Apple, Jobs was ousted from the company in 1985. He resigned and took five other senior Apple employees from him. But it was just the beginning of a great story.

After leaving Apple, Jobs, along with five senior employees that quit the company along with him, formed his next computer venture called 'NeXT'. It took several consultations with major educational buyers from around the country before a tentative specification for the workstation was drawn up. In 1997, Apple purchased NeXT for around $429 million. Jobs had spent close to $7 million to start the company before taking outside funding. (photo: allaboutstevejobs)

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In 1986, Jobs acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm, Ltd and later renamed it Pixar Animation Studios. He was one of the three founding fathers of the company. He remained the CEO of the company until The Walt Disney Company acquired it on May 5, 2006. (photo: allaboutstevejobs)

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In 1997, Apple's stock hit an all- time low, which led to the company losing hundreds of millions. This led to the board ousting the then-CEO Gil Amelio in July. Jobs was then appointed as the interim CEO in September 1997, before becoming the permanent CEO of Apple in 2000. (photo: allaboutstevejobs)

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In 1998, Apple launched iMac, which was the first computer to rely on USB ports, ditching the floppy disk drive. This opened the door to the future. In 2001, the company introduced the iPod, which had around five to 10 Gigabytes of space and was initially sold for $399. Though it was released in October that year, Apple still sold over 100,000 pieces by the end of 2001. (photo: allaboutstevejobs)

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Jobs then unveiled the future of smartphones with Apple's iPhone in June, 2007, after introducing the concept earlier in January that year. The tech giant sold around 3.7 mn iPhones in 2007, which was just the beginning. According to reports, the sale of iPhone boomed in the following years as the company sold 13.7 million phones in 2008. Apple then released the iPad in 2010, which offered 16 to 64GB of space and was priced at $499 and $829.

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Melton wrote in his blog that he doesn’t know who pitched the name Safari to Jobs but is glad they went for it. He wasn’t in the room when this name came up but described this three-syllable word as angels singing in a choir. In the blog, he further thanks whoever suggested the name "Safari". It is still unclear as to why and how Jobs came up with the name. It took the team months and months of discussions to finally come up with a name.

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The development of the Safari project was started back in 2002 and was launched in 2003 at the WWDC-Worldwide Developer’s Conference. It offered important features like Google Search, pop-up blocking, and tab-browsing, to name a few. It posed quite a challenge to Internet Explorer with all its features. Another new product announced at the same event became the default web browser for Macintosh devices as well. Even currently, Safari offers some notable features, including 4K video quality, built-in privacy protection, faster loading time, and many more.
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