Essay - Apple Computer is as Old as the PC Industry Itself...

Apple Computer is as old as the PC industry itself, and has led that industry for a substantial portion of its history. Early Apple models made the idea of a computer in every home a real possibility. Apple's Macintosh was the first commercially successful graphical user interface and an early leader in desktop publishing. Despite its ***** successes, Apple suffered as competitors' products improved and computers became more commonplace. Throughout the 1990s, Apple struggled to find and keep a market. In 1997, Apple re-hired co-founder Steve Jobs as interem CEO in the hope ***** he could turn ***** company around. Jobs dramatically changed Apple's product line and has restored the company to an industry-leading role. Apple's current strategies are working quite well ***** ***** company, and should lead ***** continued growth.

***** 1976, Steve Jobs ***** ***** Wozniak started a company called Apple to produce and sell the computer *****y had designed in their spare time. The Apple ***** a simple, affordable computer that anyone could use. The design was an instant success; by 1980, ***** had sold 100000 un*****. (Wang) ***** Apple was ideal for home users and schools, but failed ***** gain much popularity with business *****. The IBM PC conquered ***** *****, largely because it ***** easily cloned, a det*****il IBM had not planned.

Apple needed something new in order to remain competitive. In 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa, a $10000 machine named after Jobs' daughter. The Lisa had an entirely new operating system and very powerful hardware, but its most significant feature was the graphical user interface. ***** Lisa ***** the style of interface used on almost all ***** *****day; it had ic*****s, windows ***** menus, all operated with the mouse. The Lisa was a revolutionary machine without a market; many people wanted such a computer, ***** few could afford it. Apple had to design a less expensive version.

In 1984, ***** introduced ***** M*****cintosh. The machine resembled a stripped-down Lisa, and ***** far less *****, but retained the all-important graphical ***** *****. Relatively little instruction was required in order to use the new machine; ********** had to be memorized, because the ***** displayed all the relevant options on the screen. Microsoft released its Windows graphical interface for MS-DOS ***** same year, but it would be six ********** be*****e Windows had capabilities comparable to the Macin*****sh, ***** another five years after that before they could be considered equal. The Macintosh quickly dominated the desktop ***** market, which it helped to create. It also became popular w*****h the education market, ********** already used Apple products heavily. What the ***** failed ***** do was make serious inroads in to the ***** market, which ***** ***** by IBM-compatible *****s.

Portable computers were a new ***** ***** ***** early *****. ***** Powerbook was a ***** design ***** defined the standard for portable ***** for ***** to come. The ***** Duo was one of the first lightweight *****s at 4.2 pounds, and is actually lighter than Apple's smallest current Powerbook. For