Term of the Moment
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Definition: Apple
(Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA) A manufacturer of computers and consumer electronics that became the most valuable company in the world in 2011. The top spot later went to Microsoft and NVIDIA.
April Fool's Day
It all started on April Fool's Day 1976 when Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the garage of the Jobs family home in Los Altos, California. By year end, the Apple 1 was introduced at the Palo Alto Homebrew Computer Club, and several retail stores eventually began to sell it. See Apple 1.
Apple II
A year later, the Apple II blazed the trails for the personal computer industry. A fully assembled Apple II with 4K of RAM sold for $1,298. With an open architecture that encouraged third-party vendors to build plug-in enhancements, Apple IIs became the most widely used computer in the home and classroom. They were also used in business primarily to run the VisiCalc spreadsheet, which was a huge innovation at that time. See VisiCalc.
Lisa and Macintosh
In 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa, the forerunner of the Macintosh. Lisa was aimed at the corporate market, but was soon dropped in favor of the Macintosh, which debuted in 1984. As a graphics-based machine, the Mac was very successful as a low-cost desktop publishing system. See Mac history.
PowerPC Chips
In 1991, Apple surprised everyone by announcing an alliance with IBM to form several companies, the major result of which was the PowerPC chip (see Apple-IBM alliance). Three years later, Apple began using the chip in Power Macs and PowerBook laptops. Eventually, all Apple computers discarded the original Motorola 68K chip (see 68000). See PowerPC.
In a World of PCs
The Mac stood alone in a sea of PCs based on IBM's architecture and watched its graphical interface copied more with each incarnation of Windows. In 1994, Apple licensed its OS to system vendors in order to create a Macintosh clone industry. However, a couple of years later, that was discontinued. See Macintosh clone.
Out and Back In
Forced out by Apple's board in 1985, Jobs founded NeXT Computer, which eventually switched from hardware to software. However, in 1996, Apple acquired NeXT and brought Jobs back to the company he founded. Apple acquired many object-oriented development tools from NeXT, parts of which filtered into the Mac operating system. See NeXT.
The iMac
In 1998, the iMac was the first personal computer without a floppy disk. Self-contained in one unit like the original Mac, Apple sold 800,000 iMacs in a year, making it the fastest-selling computer in its history. See iMac.
The iDevices
In 2001, Apple launched the iPod. Followed several years later by the iPhone and iPad, Apple set the bar for mobile devices and grew exponentially. See iPod, iPhone and iPad. See Apple Park.
Apple in China
For a captivating account of how Apple built so much product so fast, see Apple in China.
The Two Steves
The Apple 1
Apple's First Year
A Quarter Century After the Apple 1
April Fool's Day
It all started on April Fool's Day 1976 when Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the garage of the Jobs family home in Los Altos, California. By year end, the Apple 1 was introduced at the Palo Alto Homebrew Computer Club, and several retail stores eventually began to sell it. See Apple 1.
Apple II
A year later, the Apple II blazed the trails for the personal computer industry. A fully assembled Apple II with 4K of RAM sold for $1,298. With an open architecture that encouraged third-party vendors to build plug-in enhancements, Apple IIs became the most widely used computer in the home and classroom. They were also used in business primarily to run the VisiCalc spreadsheet, which was a huge innovation at that time. See VisiCalc.
Lisa and Macintosh
In 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa, the forerunner of the Macintosh. Lisa was aimed at the corporate market, but was soon dropped in favor of the Macintosh, which debuted in 1984. As a graphics-based machine, the Mac was very successful as a low-cost desktop publishing system. See Mac history.
PowerPC Chips
In 1991, Apple surprised everyone by announcing an alliance with IBM to form several companies, the major result of which was the PowerPC chip (see Apple-IBM alliance). Three years later, Apple began using the chip in Power Macs and PowerBook laptops. Eventually, all Apple computers discarded the original Motorola 68K chip (see 68000). See PowerPC.
In a World of PCs
The Mac stood alone in a sea of PCs based on IBM's architecture and watched its graphical interface copied more with each incarnation of Windows. In 1994, Apple licensed its OS to system vendors in order to create a Macintosh clone industry. However, a couple of years later, that was discontinued. See Macintosh clone.
Out and Back In
Forced out by Apple's board in 1985, Jobs founded NeXT Computer, which eventually switched from hardware to software. However, in 1996, Apple acquired NeXT and brought Jobs back to the company he founded. Apple acquired many object-oriented development tools from NeXT, parts of which filtered into the Mac operating system. See NeXT.
The iMac
In 1998, the iMac was the first personal computer without a floppy disk. Self-contained in one unit like the original Mac, Apple sold 800,000 iMacs in a year, making it the fastest-selling computer in its history. See iMac.
The iDevices
In 2001, Apple launched the iPod. Followed several years later by the iPhone and iPad, Apple set the bar for mobile devices and grew exponentially. See iPod, iPhone and iPad. See Apple Park.
Apple in China
For a captivating account of how Apple built so much product so fast, see Apple in China.
Wozniak and Jobs (left to right) pioneered the microcomputer revolution. Wozniak's engineering and Job's charisma built a legend. Here they hold the motherboard from the Apple 1, Apple's first computer. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)
Rather humble beginnings, yet the Apple 1 led to the very successful Apple II series, which thrived for many years. See Apple 1 and Apple II. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)
Radio Shack was a major source for electronic parts at that time. As one of the most famous people in history, in 2023, this 1976 check from Steve Jobs to RadioShack sold for $46,063 at RR Auction in Boston. Other checks written by Steve Jobs sold for more than double that amount. (Image courtesy of RR Auction.)
With a CPU chip 500 times as fast, the G4 Cube in 2000 bore little resemblance to Apple's first offering. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)