Which electronic device made one lowercase letter an icon of modern life?

Answer: The iPhone.

iPhone 17 color variants. Photo by VnExpress/Tuan Hung

The lowercase "i" in iPhone stands for "internet," as revealed by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs during a 1998 keynote speech introducing the iMac, according to The Economic Times.

At the time, during the dot-com boom, the internet was rapidly expanding as millions of people went online for the first time.

But Apple’s "i" also carried broader meanings, tech experts said. "Steve Jobs said the ‘I’ stands for ‘internet, individual, instruct, inform, [and] inspire,’" Comparitech privacy advocate Paul Bischoff told Reader’s Digest. "He also alluded to it referencing ‘I’ as a personal pronoun, and ‘instruction’ for education purposes."

Bischoff added that the letter technically "did not have an official meaning," leaving it open to interpretation.

Over time, Apple’s use of the letter evolved. With the introduction of AI-powered features under Apple Intelligence, the "i" could now stand for "intelligence," the New York Post noted.

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