History Of Apple Computers
The history of Apple Computers is really entertaining, considering that this brand is now virtually a household name. The moment people say Apple Computers, immediately Steve Jobs come to mind. In fact, those who do not know the history of Apple Computers may be surprised to learn that this company is the baby of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. |
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It was in 1976, when Steve Jobs quit his job at Atari and convinced his friend Steve Wozniak, who was working for Hewlett Packard, to quit his. And, this led the two friends to form a company called Apple in the garage of Job's home. They named the company Apple, so that it would come first before its nearest rival, Atari. Jobs and Wozniak wanted to build a computer that was not only inexpensive to own, but also simple to use. This gave rise to Apple I on 1st April 1976. It was a circuit board-based computer and was sold through a local electronics store at $666.66. However, Apple Computers was not satisfied with the working and functionality of Apple I. So, Wozniak went about trying to develop a more user-friendly device with multiple features.
So, Apple II was developed with higher graphic resolution, so that pictures and images could be viewed, and a floppy disk controller to store data. The computer also had a simple operating system that was designed by Randy Wigginton, a friend of Wozniak. The Apple II was released in the market on 5 June 1977 and cost a whopping $1,298 for 4 KB RAM and $2,698 for 48 KB RAM. This new computer had sound capabilities, BASIC as its programming language, 16-bit processor and 1 MHz microprocessor. Programs could be loaded and unloaded on the computer using a special device, similar to an audio cassette. However, the computer needed an external monitor. But, people welcomed it because it was easy to operate and attractive to look at.
As time went by, the later models from Apple were improved. Their designed and speed were enhanced. It was Wozniak who was responsible for inventing the 5.25-inch floppy disk controller and drive for Apple computers. Later, in the year 1979, the computer released the Apple II Plus, which had expanded memory of 48 KB and ROM that used a language program known as AppleSoft. The company also began producing thermal printers and these were marketed under the brand name of SilenType. This printer required special thermal paper, but could be connected to the Apple computer with the help of an interface card.
Thereafter, the company developed the Apple IIe, its most popular model. This model was released in the year 1983 and had a fast chipset, two disk drives, better graphics and higher memory of 128 KB. Similarly, the company introduced more models, namely Apple IIc, Apple IIgs and Apple IIc Plus, all in different years with enhanced features.
By the time the 1990s came, Apple II was the only computer used in the elementary schools of the United States. In fact, when Apple stopped producing Apple II, more than two million computers were sold across the United States.
However, Steve Jobs was not content to just make Apple computer. He wanted more than this. So, he began concentrating on another model, the now famous Macintosh. It was in the year 1979 that Apple Computers began developing the Macintosh. The first Macintosh that the company developed used Motorola processors and had 64 KB RAM and monochrome graphics. On a visit to Xerox's research center in Palo Alto, Jobs saw a demonstration of Xerox's GUI and he was convinced that using graphical user interface, he would be able to increase the marketability of Macintosh, his dream computer.
It was on 22 January 1984, that Macintosh was released. This computer had 128 KB RAM, which would be expanded to put to 512 KB, a Motorola processor, 3.5-inch internal floppy disk drive and 384 X 256 pixel bitmap display. In addition, the computer had a GUI and 2 two programs, namely MacWrite, which was a word processing program, and MacPaint, which was a graphics program. The computer cost $2,495.
While the Macintosh was a great personal computer, it was unable to support different software platforms and also had insufficient memory and an actual hard disk drive. So, this was something Apple Computers was looking to change. However, by that time, the company had gone public and due to clashes within the company, Steve Jobs had to leave in the year 1985. After Jobs' departure, the company released many different versions of the Macintosh and also began marketing various software for Macintosh. However, the software were quite expensive and many people could not afford them.
In the early 1990s, the sales of Macintosh had reduced and the company suffered a lot of financial loss. This was primarily because computer clones were available for fraction of what a Macintosh cost. So, Apple began concentrating on marketing clones. However, Jobs came back to the company in the year 1997 and moved the company away from marketing clones. This led to the development of Apple II and iMac.
Today, Apple Computers is known as a digital lifestyle company and that creates and markets visionary computers and digital products for technophiles throughout the world.
More Articles :
1. Geek.com: A Brief History of Apple Computers
http://www.geeks.com/techtips/2006/techtips-10aug06.htm
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