I am guilty…guilty of being one of the nameless Apple drones out there that loves every little gadget, device, and portable thing that starts with an “i”.

Shoot, in my house right now, I have an iBook (on it now) an iMac, an iPod, an iHome, an iRemote, and an iProtect.

I have iAccesories for my iPod, and iAccesories for those iAccesories. I think I may just rename myself iJames.

But before Apple released the iMac, and subsequently the iPod, there were very few things with an “i” in front of them. Remember the movie “iRobot”? Thats OK, nobody else does either.

So how did the “i” come about?

Ive got one answer, and it will revolutionize how you think of your iThings.

IHOP. Thats right, the good old International House Of Pancakes. Been around forever, or at least 20 years before the first bondi blue iMac appeared, or was even conceived.

IHOP provided many things that the iLifestyle provides today, form, function, ingenuity. The newest most exciting products on the planet. Noone else dared to attempt a Rootie Tootie Fresh and Fruitie Breakfast. But IHOP did.

In fact, I would venture to say that Apple ripped of IHOP in the iNaming of its iGear.

Some marketing genius was sitting enjoying a Moons Over My Hammy Breakfast and said “I’ve got it! Let’s put an “i” in front of a word, any word, and sell it to the masses. They will eat it up as the newest greatest thing ever in the english language.”

And so it was, the iMac was born, bringing with it the birth of many thousands of iProducts.

I guess we are just lucky to not have a Rootie Tootie Fresh and Fruitie Mac. Although I consider it no coincidence that Apple produced the iMac in many fruity colors. Blueberry, Orange…both IHOP syrup flavors.

I think IHOP has a legitamate basis for an infringement lawsuit.