Apple Ignited The Personal Computer Revolution In The 1970s With The Apple II And Reinvented The Personal Computer In The 1980s With The Macintosh Essay

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Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Steven Wozniak and Steven Jobs were the true founders of Apple. In 1976, Steven Wozniak designed what is now known as the Apple I. Jobs convinced Wozniak that he needed to try to sell the machine, and on April 1, 1976, Apple Computer was created. (Stewart, 2009)
One of Apple’s drawbacks was the inability for printers to print exactly what was on the screen. Apple teamed up with an ex-Xerox employee, John Warnock who had stared his own company called Adobe. Adobe had figured out what no one else could, how to print what you see on your computer. With this development Apple introduced the first Desktop Publishing programs, and began to lead the industry overnight.
By the 1990s, the computer market had been saturated by so many personal computer clones. Since Apple was the only one selling Macs, because of their stingy patents they began to fall behind. This was due to the development of Windows 3.0, which was able to run on almost every personal computer clone. Apple computers were not compatible with the Windows 3.0, thus making it very inconvenient for people to buy Apple computers. With so many PC clones using DOS, software developers like Microsoft were able to capitalize on a growing market and keep the consumers happy and wanting more. Apple on the other hand had fewer applications, as well as more older applications that were less appealing to the consumer. Thus contributing to there steady decline.
In 1994 Apple introduced the PowerMac; this was the first Mac to be structured on the PowerPC chip. The PowerMac was an extremely fast processor that had been co-developed with IBM and Motorola. This allowed Apple to remain a high competitor for the best computer on the market. This is what enabled Apple to stay afloat in an already heavily saturated computer industry.
Apple began to take a turn for the worst again in 1995. Apple all of a sudden had accumulated to many backorders, and did not have sufficient materials to build them. Apple began to lose millions of dollars and during this time Apple failed to make a profit. Apple also had trouble keeping up with Bill Gate's Windows ‘95 that had been introduced during the summer of 1995.
In 1997, Apple made a relationship with Microsoft that would give the two companies a 5-year patent cross-license. Microsoft also paid Apple an unstated amount of money, in order that Apple keep quiet about Microsoft stealing Apple's interface design. This design had brought in great success for Microsoft, while Apple was not even recognized for it.
Apple has maintained its great success with its ability to understand what the consumer wants before the consumer even knows what they want; Apple effectively creates wants by their constant creative innovation and unique design which is stylish, user friendly and affordable. They have also been able to create a brand in the high technology world just as Chanel has in the fashion world. People can easily recognize an apple whether it's the I-Pod, the I-Phone, the Mac Air or the I-Pad. It has become a product that defines one's identity in how they desire to be seen by society that is a person who is highly innovative, intelligent, stylish and apart of the in crowd. This is pure marketing genius.
Apple simply seems to understand what will get people excited about its products, and then it executes on that vision. You don't see the company mainly talking about features or technology, but about how the computer will make your life better. Take a look at where Apple puts its logo on its products. On the laptops, the logo is right side up when the screen is open. Many vendors don't understand the power of walking into an office and seeing a large number of logos advertising their products to everyone in the office and everyone else who comes into it. The logo even lights up on most Apple laptops. Apple