Apple: iPhone 5 First Weekend Sales Top Five Million

Apple PR:

“Demand for iPhone 5 has been incredible and we are working hard to get an iPhone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough iPhone 5s for everyone.”

Interesting pluralization of iPhone 5. This is tricky because of Apple’s “just add an S to the name of the previous model” naming scheme for the iPhone 3GS and 4S. It’s potentially ambiguous to write “iPhone 4s” when referring to multiple iPhone 4 units — and in the context of an all-cap headline or sub-head style, completely ambiguous. And then how do you pluralize iPhone 4S? iPhone 4Ss? iPhone 4Ses? Eww. That’s why I follow the NY Times Manual of Style and Usage’s edict:

Use apostrophes in the plurals of abbreviations and in plurals formed from letters and figures: M.D.’s; C.P.A.’s; TV’s; VCR’s; p’s and q’s; 747’s, size 7’s. (Many publications omit such apostrophes, but they are needed to make The Times’s all-cap headlines intelligible and are therefore used through the paper for constancy.) Unlike abbreviations, shortened word forms do not take the apostrophe in the plural: co-ops; condos. Also omit apostrophes in the plurals of “words as words” (that is, words that are themselves under discussion): ifs, ands or buts; dos and don’ts.

Anyway, that’s a lot of phones.

★ Monday, 24 September 2012