How Apple have changed the world

    

On the 1^st of April 1976 Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ron Wayne founded Apple Computer Company, Inc., which would later become Apple Inc. The company was started due to Wozniak’s idea to upgrade the video terminal he built earlier into a complete computer. As a consequence in May 1976 Apple I was out in the market followed by Apple II eleven months later and Apple III in 1980.[1], [2], [3]

Lisa – 1983
The Company was developing, and attracted the attention of Xerox, who invested $1 million into Apple, and for a limited period of time gave them access to PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). In 1983 Apple released a computer with a Graphic User Interface (GUI) called Apple Lisa, based on the GUI research carried in PARC.[4]

Macintosh 128k – 1984  

In 1984 the company released Macintosh 128k which was considered the first affordable computer. It had a black and white monitor and floppy disk drive with a 8 MHz Motorola 68000 processor.[5]

Macintosh Portable – 1989

The Mac Portable, released in 1989, was an attempt to reduce the size of Apple’s computers and produce a more mobile device. However the active matrix screen, made later as a backlit, increased the cost of the already expensive machine.[6]

iMac – 1998

The iMac was designed in 1998 with the Internet in mind, hence the ‘i’ in iMac. It was enclosed in a stylish case and was meant to target the lower end customers. Equipped with an internal 56Kpbs modem and USB mouse and keyboard, this machine was considered the computer of the millennium.[7], [8]

iBook – 1999

The iBook - PowerPC consumer laptop was perhaps the most highly anticipated Apple computer ever. Aiming at the same market as the iMac it provides unique design combined with a stylish handle making it easy to carry. The most exclusive feature of the iBook is the AirPort- wireless networking system. In 2006 the iBook was replaced by the MacBook.[9]

 

Mac OS X – 2001

According to the Apple press Info: “Mac OS X is the world’s most advanced operating system, combining the power and openness of UNIX with the legendary ease of use and broad applications base of Macintosh.”   

The Mac OS X operating system became the main commercial alternative to Windows OS. The subsequent versions are named after “big cats” with the latest one to be “Lion”.[10]

 

iPod – October 2001

With the release of the iPod in 2001 Apple entered the world music market allowing their customers to keep most, if not all, of their music collection in their pocket. Steve Jobs announced: “With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again” and certainly it is not.[11]

iTunes store – April 28, 2003

In 2003 Apple launched the iTunes store where music from a large variety of artists can be bought and downloaded in an instant, giving limited right of distribution on a number of Apple products. This allows customers access to their favorite songs on a number of devices, without violating the copyright holders (i.e. producers, artists, composers, etc.) rights.

Mac Pro – August 7, 2006

There are two very important things about this machine: the year it was built 2006 and its specification, for such a high spec machine to be available at this time was fantastic. Even now 5 years on this is a fairly high spec machine. Below is a brief description of what is in the box of this super powerful computer:

·         64-bit desktop workstation

·         Two Dual-Core Intel Xeon 3.0 GHz processors

·         1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 (expandable up to 16GB!);

·         NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT with 256MB GDDR2 SDRAM

·         or ATI Radeon X1900XT with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM

·         or NVIDIA Quadro FX4500 with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM

·         250GB SATA 7200rpm expandable up to four 500GB (or 2TB in total!)[13]

iPhone & iOS – January  9, 2007

The world of mobile phones was revolutionized with the development of the iPhone. The device integrates a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, a device to browse the Internet, send emails, search the web and use maps. The iPhone introduced a new way of interaction using your fingers. All this is possible through the carefully designed mobile operating system iOS.[14]

 

MacBook Air – January 30, 2008

With 0.16-inches at its thinnest point and a maximum height of 0.76-inches the MacBook Air is considered as “The World’s Thinnest Notebook”. The small size however does not compromise the functionality, usability or the power of the device. It has a full size keyboard, large track pad supporting multi-touch gestures, a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB memory, 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive and an optional 64GB solid state hard disk.[15]

iPad – January 27, 2010

The iPad is not simply just a larger version of the iPhone, as some thought when it was first announced, it is an answer to the demand for a more mobile, powerful and easy to use device. It has an increased functionality and can be used for a number of applications such as; browsing, reading, emails, watching videos, listening to music and much more with specially designed Apps.

Perhaps the best description of the iPad is the one made by Steve Jobs:

“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price, iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”[16]

This article does not aim to give a full product history of the Apple Inc company. In fact innovations such as the App Store, MacMini, iCloud and many of the devices and achievements in-between the products mentioned above have been deliberately omitted. The main aim is to try to show how Apple and in particular Steve Jobs, who recently passed away, have revolutionized our world in terms of how we communicate and share information, how we live, how we are and perhaps even the way we think. If those devices had never been created our history would be very different. 

References:

[1] http://applemuseum.bott.org/sections/history.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Apple_Inc.
[3] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6167297
[4] http://applemuseum.bott.org/sections/gui.html
[5] http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=128k&sort=date&performa=off&order=ASC
[6] http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=portable&sort=date&performa=off&order=ASC
[7] http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=imac&sort=date&performa=off&order=ASC
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac#cite_note-2
[9] http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=ibook&sort=date&performa=off&order=ASC
[10] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2001/01/09Apples-Mac-OS-X-to-Ship-on-March-24.html
[11] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2001/10/23Apple-Presents-iPod.html
[12] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/04/28Apple-Launches-the-iTunes-Music-Store.html
[13] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/08/07Apple-Unveils-New-Mac-Pro-Featuring-Quad-64-bit-Xeon-Processors.html
[14] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/01/09Apple-Reinvents-the-Phone-with-iPhone.html
[15] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/01/15Apple-Introduces-MacBook-Air-The-Worlds-Thinnest-Notebook.html
[16] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/01/27Apple-Launches-iPad.html

Images in the header from left to right:

Apple I: http://www.apple-history.com/images/models/I.gif
S. Jobs: http://www.v3.co.uk/IMG/333/197333/steve-jobs-apple-colour-370x229.jpg?1317900966
iPad 2: http://images.apple.com/ipad/home/images/hero2_20111004.png

Other images:

Lisa: http://www.apple-history.com/images/models/lisa.gif
Macintosh 128k: http://www.apple-history.com/images/models/128k.jpg
Macintosh Portable: http://www.apple-history.com/images/models/portable.gif
iMac: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/IMac_Bondi_Blue.jpg/220px-IMac_Bondi_Blue.jpg
iBook: http://www.apple-history.com/images/models/ibook_blue_hand.jpg
Mac OS X: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/80/Mac_OSX_Lion_screen.png
iPod: http://store.storeimages.cdn-apple.com/2090/store.apple.com/Catalog/regional/amr/classic/img/product-white-classic.jpg
iTunes: http://advertboy.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/itunes500.jpg
Mac Pro: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/08/07Apple-Unveils-New-Mac-Pro-Featuring-Quad-64-bit-Xeon-Processors.html
iPhone: http://www.computertipsplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/iphone-1.jpg