The computer also flopped badly, being too far ahead of its time and too expensive (priced at $10,000).
Jobs joined the Macintosh team in 1982 and proceded to make the product surpass Lisa by incorporating an advanced GUI in the computer. The Mac was launched in early 1984 and was succesful initially. By the end of the year, however, it started to lose out to overwhelming competition from IBM and Microsoft. (Sanford; "History of Apple Computers," Wikipedia)
Jobs Loses his Job
By 1982, Steve Jobs had begun to realize that Apple was faced with increasing competition from heavyweight competitors such as IBM and Microsoft and needed outside help. He wooed John Sculley from Pepsi-Cola, who joined Apple as President and CEO in April 1983. The two, however, soon fell out and after an unsuccesful bid for control of the company by Jobs the BOD sided with Sculley and Jobs resigned from Apple to form NeXT. (Ibid.)
Apple Loses out to Microsoft
Although Apple had developed an excellent Operating System for its Mac computers, it made a monumental blunder that was responsible for its downfall and the domination of the personal computer market by Microsoft from the mid 1980s onward. While Microsoft handed out licenses cheaply and widely for the Window's operating system it had developed for IBM's first personal computer, Apple jealously guarded its own OS and did not allow others to clone it. It accused Microsoft of stealing its designs and got involved in costly legal battles, which it ultimately lost. The result was that Apple rapidly lost its share of the PC market and Microsoft's Windows OS began to dominate the market. In the 1990s, Apple, under a succession of CEOs including John Sculley, Michael Spindler, and Gil Amelio failed to stem the tide and Apple's balance sheet and share value spiraled southward. ("Apple Computers: A Brief History")
The Return of Steve Jobs
In late December 1996, Apple made the startling announcement that it would be acquiring NeXT, and that Steven Jobs would be returning to the company in an "expanded role." Gil Amelio resigned as Apple's CEO in July 1997 and Jobs took over as its interim CEO.
Since that time Jobs has made a number of changes in the company and its products He has changed Apple's BOD almost entirely, introduced a...
As a result, Apple started to show significant profits from 1998 onwards although its computer sales again stumbled in early 2000s due to an economic slowdown. (Sanford)
Success in Digital Music Products
Apple has achieved more success in recent years in the digital music products market than in computers through the introduction of its highly successful online Music Store called iTunes and iPod; an equally successful portable digital music player.
Works Cited
Apple Computers: A brief history." BBC News. February 10, 2000. October 1, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2000/microsoft/636824.stm
Bellis, Mary. "Inventors of Modern Computer." About.com. n.d. October 1, 2005. http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa121598.htm
History of Apple Computers" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2005. October 1, 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Apple_Computer
Sanford, Glen. Company History. apple-history.com. 1976-2005. October 1, 2005. http://www.apple-history.com/
Steve Wozniak." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2005. October 1, 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak
HP was a calculator manufacturer in the 1970s manufacturer of popular video games
Jobs was 16, and Wozniak was 21 at the time
Wozniak's HP scientific calculator and Steve Jobs' Volkswagen van
The 6502 processor was designed by Rockwell, produced by MOS Technologies and cost just $25
Priced at $1,298 each).
It was in continuous production for sixteen years and seven months, from April 1977 through November 1993
The omission of a cooling fan in Apple III, for example, was a major design fault that led to overheating
Rhapsody is the operating system developed by Job's former company, NeXT, now merged with Apple
In August 1997, Jobs announce that Microsoft and Apple had agreed to a 5-year patent cross-license and a final settlement in the ongoing GUI argument.
Apple Computer
