Apple | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Apple

Apple Computer, Inc., headquartered in Cupertino, California, is a worldwide designer, producer, and seller of personal computers, printers, monitors, software, scanners, and networking products. The Apple Computer Company, a partnership founded by Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Ron Wayne, was created on April 1, 1976, to sell the Apple I, a computer circuit board manufactured in the home of Jobs's parents. Within weeks they received their first contract to sell 50 "assembled" Apple I computers to The Byte Shop.

Soon after Apple's founding, Wayne relinquished his $800 share, unwilling to risk financial failure. After a moderately successful 10-month period of assembling 200 units, and selling all but 25, Wozniak began designing the Apple II. Realizing that the inexpensive Apple I barely let them break-even, and with plans to build 1,000 Apple II computers at a unit cost of several hundred dollars, Jobs knew they didn't have sufficient money. Luckily, new partner Mike Markkula invested $92,000 and negotiated a line-of-credit so the partnership could become a corporation in January 1977. Unwilling to use the standard "box"-shaped case, Jobs modeled the Apple II after the sleek Hewlett-Packard calculators, a "friendly" but high-tech look that blended with other desk items. The company introduced the Apple II at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire. The burgeoning computer industry applauded the Apple II because it ran the BASIC programming language, was expandable, and contained a keyboard and color graphics-capability (the first for a desktop computer). During this time the original logo, Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree, was replaced by the now-famous apple logo consisting of six colorful horizontal stripes with a "byte" taken out of it. (The basis of the logo came about because Jobs, after working at an orchard, had thought that the nutritional, not-easily damaged apple was the perfect fruit.) Apple also became the first company to advertise computers in consumer magazines. The Apple II is now considered the first true general-purpose PC because it brought personal computing--formerly only for hard-core hobbyists--into homes and offices. The Apple II turned Apple Computer into a major computer company. In 1978 Apple introduced the enhanced Apple II, the first PC to possess a floppy disk drive. In 1979 the Apple Education Foundation was founded to grant Apple systems to schools to develop new classroom software and integrate computers into their curriculum.

Wozniak built the Apple II for hobbyists, but when most were sold to businesses it was decided that its successor, the Apple III, would be designed with this market in mind. Introduced in 1980, it featured more memory, an advanced operating system, and one internal 5.25-inch disk drive. However, the Apple III contained hardware flaws and a high price tag, and it quickly received a bad reputation. Sales of the older Apple II increased, while the Apple III fizzled. In December 1980 the company went public, making Wozniak and Jobs instant millionaires.

In 1983 Apple introduced Lisa, a computer designed for businesses. The Lisa incorporated a handheld mouse and was seen as a response to the 1981 release of the first personal computer from International Business Machines (IBM). Lisa's graphical user interface (GUI), the first introduced on a commercial computer, became standard on other operating systems. However, during this time IBM standardized its PC with Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system, and PC-clone manufacturers eagerly joined in. Apple didn't go along, resulting in poor sales due to an expensive price tag and non-compatibility with most of the market.

The Macintosh computer was introduced in the famous "George Orwell" commercial during the 1984 Super Bowl. Initially the "Mac" sold well due to "windows" that allowed users to click on words, pictures, and icons with its mouse. But customers became dismayed with its small memory and lack of a hard drive. Overall the Macintosh led the way to future improvements in graphics-based applications and was often called the first virtual-reality machine because its icons represented real office items; like files, folders, and trashcans. Its fundamental concept has been incorporated into nearly all PCs. It is worth noting that the mouse-and-window interface was developed at Xerox PARC, where it had been developed for Xerox's 1970s pioneering attempt to create a PC. Jobs visited Xerox PARC, and, when Xerox abandoned the project, he hired part of the developmental team. To bolster sales Apple aggressively marketed the Macintosh to universities. Apple developed the Apple University Consortium in which Macs were sold for $1,000 if the university made a two million dollar commitment to resell them to their students. The program proved to be one of Apple's biggest marketing successes, helping to cement its dominance in the educational field.

In late 1985 Microsoft's Bill Gates introduced Windows 1.0, which had many similarities to the Mac operating system. Apple sued Microsoft but lost the lawsuit and the exclusive rights to its interface design. Apple quickly recovered when it entered the 1985 office market with both the LaserWriter, the first affordable PostScript laser printer, and PageMaker, one of the first desktop-publishing programs. Desktop publishers praised the LaserWriter as a high-quality but inexpensive printer capable of easily handling multiple fonts, type sizes, and graphics, and liked the software that allowed easy setup of high-quality layouts. Although the company was prospering, Wozniak and Jobs left Apple. Its presence in the desktop publishing market expanded in 1986 with its Macintosh Plus computer, which included the important innovation of built-in networking support, called LocalTalk.

Apple introduced the Mac II in 1987, a computer with separate CPU case and monitor that looked like a serious business tool. It was fully expandable and featured a new expansion bus called NuBus that made it possible to add devices and configure them with software. This was the first time that the "plug & play" feature was included. The computing world began to turn toward the IBM PC and IBM-compatibles during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In spite of this, Apple continued to grow, and in 1990 it introduced a new line of Macintosh computers priced 50% less than previous models in order to attract new customers. The market continued to become more competitive with PC-clones, and Apple was the only company selling non-PC compatibles. In May 1991 Microsoft introduced Windows 3.0, which ran on nearly all the PC-clones, causing more problems for Apple.

In 1991 Apple released its first generation of PowerBook laptop computers, with instant success. The next year Apple introduced the family of Macintosh PowerBooks, all of which featured built-in networking capabilities. Soon the company introduced the first multi-platform standard for sound, video, and other multimedia applications (called QuickTime software). It also introduced the Newton, a handheld communications device that translated handwriting into typewritten text. In 1992 Apple for the first time allowed their Performa systems to be sold through retail outlets and mail order catalogs (breaking its rule of selling only to full-service dealers). In 1993 Apple released the Macintosh TV, the first PC with built-in television and stereo CD.

Apple launched the Power Macintosh line of high-performance computers in 1994. The PowerPC allowed Apple to compete with the latest PCs. The company also began licensing its operating system, Mac OS, to several clone-companies. But Apple was restrictive in its licensing agreements, and only a few companies licensed it. Apple's problems were compounded by the 1995 release of Microsoft's Windows 95, widely praised as better than the Mac system.

In 1996 Apple acquired NeXT Software, headed by Steve Jobs. The next year, Apple hired Jobs as interim CEO to counter competition with Macintosh clones and computers using Microsoft's Windows. Jobs made dramatic changes in strategy by: (1) reversing the decision to license Mac OS to other manufacturers that had taken away market share, (2) introducing a line of high-powered desktop and notebook computers, (3) discontinuing the unprofitable Newton, and (4) discontinuing clone vendors who cut into Apple's profitable high-end market. Jobs also announced that Apple would sell computers on-line and over the telephone from The Apple Store. An entirely new Mac design was introduced, the iMac, as a low-cost, attractively designed computer. The iMac became the nation's best-selling computer. Building on the iMac success, Apple introduced in 1999 the iBook, a consumer low-end portable. In 2000 Jobs became the CEO, and soon unveiled Apple's new Internet strategy: a package of Mac-only internet-based applications called iTools in order to take advantage of the explosion of personal electronic devices.