The first product from the Apple camp to use the 'i' prefix was the iMac. The 'i' in it basically meant 'Internet', but it also meant Individual, Instruct, Inform and Inspire.
Since then, there have been many hardware and software products from Apple that have used the 'i' prefix. There has been iSight, iPod, iPod Hi-Fi, iChat AV, iCal, iLife (iPhoto, iWeb, iMovie HD, iDVD), iTunes, iWork, iDisk and now the iPhone. As you can see, most of the five words apply to most of these products, but some of the names have been downright ludicrous.
But I think all the five words are as right for the iPhone as they were for the iMac. Plus, I don't know whether you know about this or not, but there has been tremendous speculation over the past few years about a phone from Apple and most, if not all, people had christened it the 'iPhone'. Therefore, using the name gives a physical entity to an already famous and highly public name. It can only be a positive thing.
And now, because Cisco own the name and have sued Apple, there is already a lot of free publicity going on for the iPhone. And if Apple win the case, who gets the benefit of all this hype? No prizes for guessing, Apple.
I think it was pure genius to use this name.
