Democratising the personal computer to inventing the application ecosystem, Apple has often introduced new ways of using technology. Here are some of the most remarkable innovations by the company over the past half-century.
At the start of the 1970s, the notion of an ordinary person owning a computer seemed absurd. Computers at the time resembled aircraft carriers or nuclear power plants more than household devices: large machines housed in data centers, operated by teams of specialists serving governments, universities, and large corporations.
Then came Apple.
Founded on April 1, 1976, by two college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the Silicon Valley startup did not invent computing. But it arguably achieved something more significant: transforming computing into personal technology.
Before Apple, computers were often sold as DIY kits. Jobs understood that people preferred ready-to-use machines. The very first Apple I computers, with koa wood cases handcrafted, now sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auctions.
As an early Apple user and app developer, here is my personal selection of the most significant technological achievements by the company and Steve Jobs over the past 50 years.
Apple II – Beige and Unique
Early personal computers were more curiosities than practical tools. The Apple II, launched in June 1977, introduced something new: style. Even its color – beige! – was original, contrasting with the common black metallic cases at the time.
Color display was new and exciting, and the keyboard provided a pleasant user experience. A simple single-bit speaker was ingeniously used to produce tones and even speech-like sounds. The design was revolutionary down to the packaging: Jerry Manock, Apple’s first salaried designer, put the machine in a molded plastic case with an elegant and professional look.
The Mouse – a New Way to Interact
In 1979, Steve Jobs, then 24 years old and convinced that tech giant IBM was catching up to Apple, sought the next big innovation. Xerox, the copier company that wanted Apple shares even before its IPO, offered Jobs a tour of their neighboring research labs in exchange. Jobs realized that Xerox’s researchers were inventing the next generation of computer interfaces.
At the heart of this revolution was a device developed in the mid-1960s by Alan Kay’s mentor, Douglas Engelbart, at Stanford University, nicknamed “the mouse.” Douglas Engelbart’s vision of the computer as a machine to enhance human intellect inspired Alan Kay and his colleagues to create graphical interfaces where users interacted with scroll bars, buttons, menus, and windows.
Macintosh – Birth of Modern Product Launches
Steve Jobs believed that anyone should be able to use a computer. In January 1984, the first Apple Mac took this idea to a new level. Gone were cryptic computer commands and accompanying manuals. Early users, myself included, felt instinctively knowledgeable about how to do everything.
But the Mac launch was more than just a technological leap. It also inspired what has become a cultural moment embedded in our lives: the product launch. After a tantalizing ad aired during the Super Bowl and directed by Ridley Scott, Steve Jobs staged a product launch in a 1,500-seat theater focused on a charismatic solo presenter. He pulled out a small, square computer – still beige – then called Macintosh, which started speaking for itself to the enthusiastic applause of the audience.
Pixar – Jobs’ Parallel Project
During its first decade, Apple experienced exceptional growth – but also faced bankruptcy several times. These difficulties led to one of the most spectacular episodes in its history when, in May 1985, Apple forced Jobs to leave the company.
A year later, while leading the startup NeXT Inc, Steve Jobs acquired a division from George Lucas’ production company, which he swiftly renamed Pixar. Its RenderMan software allowed generating images by distributing calculations across multiple machines working simultaneously.
Pixar, often humorously described as Jobs’ “parallel project,” became one of the most influential – and profitable – animation studios globally, producing the first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story (1995).
iMac – Fusion of Two Visions
After an unsuccessful attempt to develop a new operating system with IBM, Apple ended up acquiring Steve Jobs’ NeXT company. In September 1997, he returned as interim CEO when the company was, in his words, “two months from bankruptcy.” While this return was celebrated by many Apple users, it worried some employees. Jobs quickly began laying off staff and shutting down failing products.
During this restructuring, he visited Apple’s design studio and immediately hit it off with a young British designer, Jony Ive. This encounter led to the 1998 translucent, brightly colored iMac. Essentially smaller and cheaper NeXT machines, the iMacs (the “i” standing for Internet) also introduced another Apple innovation, now a habit: abandoning outdated technologies. The floppy drive was replaced by a CD drive – a highly criticized choice at the time but widely copied later on.
iPod – 1,000 Songs in Your Pocket
For Apple, computing has never just been about computing. In 2001, the company began delving into sound and video processing, not just text and images. In November of the same year, it launched the iPod – a player capable of storing “1,000 songs in your pocket,” as opposed to a maximum of 20-30 per cassette on a Sony Walkman.
The iPod was controlled by an elegant “click wheel” for navigation on the screen. Music was synchronized via a new application called iTunes. By 2005, users also used it to manage audio files automatically downloaded from the Internet through a system called RSS. This would give rise to the podcast “pod.”
iPhone – A Computer in Every Hand
In 2007, many mobile phone manufacturers had approached Apple to merge the iPod with their devices. Steve Jobs chose a different path. On January 9, he unveiled Apple’s most ambitious product yet: a device combining a phone, music player, and Mac computer – all in the form of a simple handset, without a physical keyboard and with a large screen.
Most media “experts,” from TechCrunch to The Guardian, predicted failure. Microsoft’s CEO at the time, Steve Ballmer, mocked the $500 price, saying no one would buy such a device. In reality, 1.4 million iPhones were sold before the year’s end – over 3 billion since. For the first time, a real computer was in everyone’s hands, paving the way for today’s social networks.
App Store Software Revolution
By mid-2008, the iPhone offered all developers the opportunity to create a vast array of new applications. Simultaneously, the App Store – launched on July 10, 2008 – addressed one of the most complex issues: distributing and commercializing these “apps.” Historically, software was often copied and freely distributed. The App Store changed this by using robust encryption to ensure that the purchased copy could only be used by the buyer, reducing piracy.
By launching the first App Store in the modern sense, Apple transformed how users discover and purchase software. It triggered an explosion of applications and introduced a simple but powerful idea: whatever you want to do, someone, somewhere, has already created the app to do it. Apple encapsulates this evolution in a famous slogan: “There’s an app for that.”
Time and time again, this extraordinary company has anticipated the importance of opening up computing to the masses. Happy anniversary, Apple!
