Apple became a household name in the third quarter of SuperBowl XVIII when it aired the enormously popular 1984 ad promoting the upcoming release of the Macintosh.
Category Archives: Apple History
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Jef Raskin founded the Macintosh project at Apple, which led to the development of the Apple Mac and the popularisation of the graphical user-interface. He was Apple employee #31 and left the Macintosh team in mid-1981 after Steve Jobs took over the project.
Michael Spindler was born during the last throes of Nazi Germany. The family was split up before Spindler was born, because his father was forced to work at a munitions plant. The absence of his father during his early childhood appeared to make Spindler even more motivated to prove himself. He excelled in school and […]
Apple started 1984 with a bang. The Macintosh was finished, and it was well received by the general public, largely due to a highly successful advertising campaign beginning with the 1984 ad.
Despite an enormous launch campaign, the Macintosh was a failure. Steve Jobs had predicted that Apple sell 500,000 Macs the first year, but by 1985.03.11 the company had sold only 10% of Jobs’ original prediction.
More than any other product from Apple, the iPod has changed the company and the world. Before its introduction, MP3 players were the realm of small companies with limited budgets that were unable to provide content. After the iPod, the entire industry has evolved and grown to the point where the largest computer companies in […]
In the months following Steve Jobs’ dramatic return to Apple on 1996.12.20, the press lost interest in the end of Apple’s eleven year interregnum. Instead, they were interested in Apple’s brand new build to order online store, a first for a major computer industry player, and (to Apple’s embarrassment) Umax’s updated S900 Mac clone that […]
More than any other product from Apple, the iPod has changed the company and the world. Before its introduction, MP3 players were the realm of small companies with limited budgets that were unable to provide content. After the iPod, the entire industry evolved and grew to the point where the largest computer companies in the […]
Gil Amelio was unlike any Apple CEO since the days of Mike Scott, a former Fairchild executive. Amelio was from National Semiconductor, an outside company where he made a name for himself as a turnaround artist.
In the late 1980s, Apple appeared to be in the middle of a resurgence. John Sculley had forced out the volatile Steve Jobs in 1985, and a cadre of older, more experienced executives focused on building the Apple and Macintosh brands. The company was beginning to grow complacent, working to protect Macintosh revenues at the […]
Fifteen years ago, Steve Jobs announced at the Boston Macworld Expo that Microsoft was making a $150 million investment in Apple Computer, cash Apple desperately needed to remain afloat – along with a promise that Microsoft would continue to develop Office and Internet Explorer for Mac for at least five years, an assurance that helped […]
The Macintosh officially turns 25 on January 24, 2009, the anniversary of the day Apple announced the original Macintosh to its Board of Directors and to the world- the world of personal computing has never been the same.
The Macintosh officially turned 25 on January 24, 2009, the anniversary of the day Apple announced the original Macintosh to its Board of Directors and to the world – and the world of personal computing has never been the same.
During the mid-90s, Mac users were prone to dealing with poorly trained and ill-maintained Mac sections in big box computer and electronics stores. These environments did not foster customer loyalty, nor did they help differentiate the Mac user-experience from Windows.
Every few years some publication decides to have a variation on a top ten computing failure list. Invariably both the Lisa and the Newton make it on that list with many guffaws about the Lisa’s US$10,000 price.
VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet, was one of the key products that helped bring the microcomputer from the hobbyist’s desk into the office. Before the release of this groundbreaking software, microcomputers were thought of as toys; VisiCalc changed that.