Apple has decided to call its forthcoming consumer portable the iBook, according to The Register. The machine has been code-named the P1. Another commercial name, considered and apparently rejected, was the WebMate – an evocation of Apple’s eMate, a Newton in a translucent green shell. Though the eMate was discontinued when Apple shut its Newton division down, its sinuous design pre-figured the hugely successful iMac desktop. If The Register is right, the new name fits nicely into the four- product hardware scheme outlined by Apple’s perpetual interim CEO Steve Jobs: a business desktop and laptop, called the PowerMac and the PowerBook; and a consumer desktop and laptop, called the iMac and the iBook.
