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Before iPods and iPhones: Apple through the Years

Written by admin on April 6th, 2011

Apple has been a major driving force in the consumer technology market for a couple of years now. Thanks to their innovative products and creative approaches to the digital age, Apple has managed to carve itself a unique niche and create a trend of its own. The names iPods, iPhone, iPad and Mac have become a household name. However, before Apple’s booming popularity in the world of mobile phones and mp3 players, it had already established itself as a competitive computer manufacturer. Consequently, the evolution of Apple is always an interesting story to tell. Let’s take a look at some of Apple’s ventures and get to know some of your Mac’s ancestors.

All-In-One Computers

Back in its premature days, Apple initially offered “all-in-one” computers. They provided packages of built-in monitors. Nonetheless, despite the classification, Apple already provided its customers with a variety of monitor packages with the same box. Some of the earliest all-in-one computers include Apple II and Apple III. Apple II was released in 1977 at the same time that the famous rainbow Apple logo was conceptualized. Steve Jobs figured that colors should be added to the logo in order to emphasize the superior color capacity of Apple II. This marked the beginning of Apple’s distinctiveness from its competitors. Apple III at the time was released to cater to business industries and compete with IBM. In 1983, Apple introduced Apple IIe which eliminated the numeric keypad and came with a built-in keyboard.

Venture into Portability and Desktop Computers

1984 signaled the start for Apple’s focus on portability along with “out-of-the-box” functionality. The company introduced Apple IIc. Nonetheless, the IIc edition still lacked a portable power supply. In the same year, the name Macintosh opened a new era not just for Apple, but for the world over. Macintosh started it all. It was Steve Jobs’ demonstration at Mac World that instigated the explosion of Apple’s popularity, releasing the very first Macintosh and introduced many of the features that people are enjoying now. Afterwards, Apple released Apple IIGS and Macintosh Plus in 1986. IIGS provided the signature silkscreened front from Steve Wozniak. The Macintosh Plus series originally came in beige color but it was later on changed to gray, the trademark color for many Apple computers in the years to come. Following the release of the Macintosh series, Macintosh II was introduced. It was the first modular computer from Apple. This also marked the beginning of desktop computers for the company. The following provides an outline of the progression of Apple in the computer manufacturing industry:

Macintosh SE (1987). In this same year of desktop computers, Apple began adding advanced SCSI support and internal hard disk to its computers.

Macintosh Color (1993). Apple finally put out its first color compact computer.

iMac G3 Tray Loading Bondi Blue (1998). This is another computer revolution catalyst from Apple. The iconic, streamlined desktop computer got rid of the tower but kept the computing capacity of the device.

2000 – Present

By the year 2000, Apple was using Intel’s chipset and had invested on computer speed. From its Power Mac G5 (2003) to the Mac Pro (2006), Apple continually emphasized the company’s dedication in providing efficiency and fast computing ability. The beginning of 2000 also showed the company’s ongoing venture into the laptop industry. In 2006, Apple introduced the famous MacBook which became an instant hit. In 2008, the company released the revolutionary MacBook Air, so compact it fit right into a paper envelope. The same period also saw the debut of Apple’s LCD offerings such as the Apple Cinema Display. Nonetheless, among the countless revolutionary products that apple introduced, it is the iPod release which set Apple a few bars above all other competitors. From the iPod Classic First Generation (2001) to the Shuffle, Nano and iPod touch, Apple changed the way people listen to music. And in 2007, every tech aficionado’s must-have gadget was released: the iPhone. The iPhone has received such immense popularity and positive reception that it proved to be a viable and strong competitor to Blackberry. To date, Apple is still active in bringing the consumer market more groundbreaking products like the iPad, pushing the boundaries of our understanding of computers. More than two decades after its establishment, Apple has truly become a force to be reckoned with.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 at 8:04 am and is filed under History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.