A Brief History of Apple Innovation by Larry MacPhee Associate Director, e-Learning Northern Arizona University

Disclaimers The views expressed are those of the presenter and not necessarily the views of e-Learning or Northern Arizona University  I have no relatives who work for Apple Computer, but I have made a fair bit of money buying and selling AAPL stock.

“It's really hard to design products by focus groups “It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them” -Steve Jobs, 1998 Wayne Gretzky was once asked why he was so good at hockey. He explained that he skates to where the puck is going to be, not where it is now. Apple embodies that philosophy in the technology world.

History Apple leads the personal computer (PC) industry not in market share, but in innovation. Apple introduces more new technologies to the public than any other computer company, and most of these technologies eventually find their way into all computers. Apple has shaped the PC industry like no other company. Not IBM. Not Intel. Not Microsoft. Not Adobe. Not HP. Not Dell. The following is a list of Apple firsts. Want to see the future computing? Watch Apple. Apple is disruptive. Usually they don’t invent a technology, but they transform it into something useful or great. Then the rest of the industry follows.

1. The Personal Computer 1977 Apple II There were computer kits that one could assemble before the Apple II. But Apple built the first computer that worked right out of the box and looked like a commercial product. The Apple II was the first huge success in personal computing because there were a lot more people interested in writing software than tinkering with hardware. It would be four years before the first serious challenger, the IBM PC, was introduced in 1981. Steve Wozniak’s elegant circuit board design and Steve Jobs’s marketing prowess were the keys to early success. Apple II

2. The GUI 1984 Apple didn’t invent the graphical user interface; they borrowed the idea from Xerox. However, they perfected it and commercialized it with the Macintosh. Xerox executives never knew what to do with the brilliant work at PARC, and many talented PARC engineers ended up moving to Apple so they could realize their dreams. It would be another 11 years before Microsoft had a functional version of Windows. The all-in-one design of the Macintosh was also groundbreaking, with its 3.5 inch floppy drive and the use of a mouse. Macintosh

3. Plug and Play since 1984 Plug and play Years before this became the standard practice, Apple labeled its ports so you would know what to connect to what. And when you plugged it in, the devices worked properly without additional configuration. Apple invented plug and play. Trying to get a mouse or printer connected to an early Windows PC was an exercise in futility that people jokingly called “plug and pray!” Apple’s early marketing slogan, “It just works!” was actually true. Plug and play

4. The LAN 1984 AppleTalk Local Area Network Apple computers were networkable right from the start using AppleTalk. You could share files and print to a network printer in 1984 with a Mac. Local Area Network

5. Desktop Publishing 1985 WYSIWYG Desktop Publishing Apple collaborated with Adobe to develop the LaserWriter and invented the desktop publishing industry. With the laser printer’s PostScript language, it was possible to print on paper exactly what you saw on screen. This advance was called “WYSIWYG” (what you see is what you get). Aldus PageMaker was the first killer app for the Mac, and this eventually led to the Mac becoming the preferred machine of graphic designers and other creative types. Desktop Publishing

6. Hypertext 1987 Apple’s software genius, Bill Atkinson, who also developed the Mac’s Quickdraw graphics engine and the intuitive MacPaint application, developed HyperCard in 1987. At the time, most computers were standalone boxes and nobody knew what to do with it, but it’s clear in retrospect that a hypercard stack was like the world wide web in miniature. Hypercard

7. AppleLink? 1989 Apple had a significant role in the early development of America Online, the most successful Internet business in the dial-up era. AOL

8. The Modern Laptop 1991 Powerbook Before Apple, laptops looked like the clunker on the left. Except that the trackball was eventually replaced with a trackpad and that flatscreens gradually improved, modern laptop design has not really changed since Apple introduced the first PowerBook in 1991. Powerbook

9. Multimedia 1993 By 1993, when most PCs still ran DOS, lacked a sound card or a graphics card, and were incapable of displaying anything but monochrome text on the screen, Apple desktop computers had high-resolution color graphics, built-in speakers, CD-ROM drives and the Quicktime movie player. It would be years before Windows had anything comparable. Quicktime

10. The PDA 1993 Although widely ridiculed for its poor handwriting recognition software when introduced, the Newton laid the groundwork for the Palm PDA (personal digital assistant) and Windows Mobile devices that followed. By the time it was discontinued, the Newton had become a very capable device but Apple was in financial trouble and Jobs killed it off. It probably didn’t help that this was Scully’s baby, and Scully had sided with the Apple board to oust Jobs from the company ;) Newton

11. Digital Photography 1994 Quicktake Apple worked with Kodak to introduce the first digital camera in 1994. Within a few years, digital cameras were everywhere and Kodak, which still relied heavily on their film business for most of their profits, would begin a long decline. To this day, Apple owns most of the patents related to digital photography because of this early partnership. Quicktake

The Dark Years 1995-97 Windows 95 Mac clones Brain drain Copland Performas Weak CEOs Sculley Spindler Amelio But finally…the return of Steve Jobs A series of weak CEOs, an aging OS, and the introduction of Windows 95 spelled near doom for Apple, but the return of Steve Jobs breathed new life into Apple.

12. The iMac 1998 Just in time for the Internet Just as the Internet was becoming accessible to the general public, Jobs introduced the iMac and began Apple’s turnaround. It was another marked departure from what a computer looked like, and was a huge hit with consumers. Just as Apple is famous for introducing new technologies, they are also notorious for taking them away sooner than everyone is ready to let go. The iMac was controversial because it lacked a floppy drive but, before long, most of the industry followed suit. Just in time for the Internet

13. Wireless 1999 Apple introduced wireless technology to the world with its Airport base stations. Airport

14. Digital Video 2000 With iMovie and the firewire connected digital video (DV) camera, Apple made it possible for anyone to shoot and edit digital video. iMovie

15. MacOS X 2000 -> Apple transitioned from its legacy Mac OS to the UNIX-based MacOS X in 2000, ensuring a solid system architecture on which to build for the future. OS X also had a much more eye catching look, which helped to sell the “under-the-hood” changes. MacOS X

16. Digital Music 2001 iTunes and iPod Not the first MP3 player, but the first really good one. Although few people knew it at the time, the iPod and iTunes would begin Apple’s transformation from a computer company to a media giant. Apple also saved the music industry from piracy by making it simpler for people to buy music than to steal it. The iPod, more than any other product, ensured Apple’s resurgence, as it was popular with young people and made Apple “cool” again. Making a version of iTunes for Windows greatly expanded the market. For many people, the iPod was the first Apple product they owned and it proved to have a “halo effect” on the computer line, particularly with young people. iTunes and iPod

17. The Switch to Intel Processor parity Windows on Mac 2006 Intel While the AIM (Apple/IBM/Motorola) alliance had produced an impressive series of RISC processors, the PowerPC chip was not able to keep up with Intel’s offerings, so Apple made another major switch to industry standard Intel processors. This also made it possible for Macs to run Windows natively. It was a bold move to abandon the PowerPC because all of the Apple software developers had to re-write their applications for compatibility but, in the end, it paid off. The performance gap was closed. Processor parity Windows on Mac Intel

18. iPhone Apple reinvents the cell phone 2007 The button-laden Palm Treo and the Blackberry represented the pinnacle of smartphone design until Apple introduced the iPhone and turned the smartphone industry on its head. Now all Smartphones look like the iPhone. Apple reinvents the cell phone

19. AppleTV Apple tries to repeat iPod’s success with movies 2007 Encountering greater resistance from the movie studios and tv networks, who didn’t want to see Apple dominate visual entertainment as they did music, the AppleTV and iTunes have been successful but not dominant. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon are strong competitors. Apple tries to repeat iPod’s success with movies

20. iPad Apple’s reinvents the computer…again 2010 While Microsoft struggled for years to popularize the Tablet PC, Apple’s iPad was an immediate success. Now, the entire computer industry is in decline as tablets rise, and Microsoft is scrambling to get back into the game. Apple’s reinvents the computer…again

The Future? The Post-Steve Era With the passing of Steve Jobs, who’s marketing genius and intuition for the next big thing returned Apple to dominance, what does the future hold? Apple will ride on momentum for years, but it’s unclear whether the company can continue to innovate without its founder and chief evangelist. The Post-Steve Era

More good stuff http://www.apple-history.com http://www.folklore.org/index.py

Why Macintosh? Not a major target for hackers Very few viruses affect Macs Runs the most popular software Seamless Hardware-OS integration Low TCO (Total cost of ownership) High resale value Innovative industrial design Supportive user community High reliability High customer satisfaction The choice of creative professionals Runs Windows too iOS and MacOS are very similar

Why not Macintosh? Some websites will treat you poorly Some services come later to Mac Some applications may not be available Gaming is a drag Some hardware/drivers not Mac compatible Harder to get local repairs More limited shopping options International customers have to wait Costs more up front than a budget PC Mac haters will pick on you You can still use your iPod with a PC Apple can be fickle towards its users

Decisions, decisions Is it worth it?