Philip Houska Today, April 1st, is Apple's 40th birthday. A long time has passed since the 70s, when the very first product of this now indelibly inscribed technology giant was created in the garage of Jobs' parents. During those four decades, Apple was able to change the world.
The influential and strong presence on the technology market cannot be denied to the Californian company. It provided the world with products that defined a revolutionary concept. Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad are undoubtedly among them. However, in the constellation of highly successful products, there are also those that failed, fell into place and are liked to be forgotten in Cupertino.
Even Steve Jobs was not flawless and had a number of missteps, after all, like any mortal, even the late co-founder of Apple will always be remembered primarily as a "revolutionary" who changed the world. And what was it with?
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtY0K2fiFOA” width=”640″]
What went well?
Apple II
This computer model was a notable success for the company, as it helped it break into the personal computer market. The Apple II was popular not only in the business sphere, but also in education. It was also in great demand when Apple introduced the Macintosh. It was finally withdrawn by Apple after 17 years on the market, in 1993, when more advanced computers replaced it.
Macintosh
The Mac was Apple's first truly revolutionary gem. He was able to launch the era of computer mice and also laid the foundation for how we still interact with computers today. The Mac was groundbreaking in that it offered the graphical user interface that serves as the basis for smartphones and tablets today.
iPod
The iPod is the device that defined listening to music. Apple came up with this product because there was nothing simple on the market that could guarantee user favor. This music player has become a revolution not only in playing music, but also in the comfort of operation. Despite the fact that it was not the first music player, it was the first device that became a certain icon not only of the technological but also of the musical world.
iPhone
The first smartphone that Apple launched on the market became an absolute blockbuster. Although it was expensive, underpowered, had a slow internet connection and many other limitations, such as the inability to download additional applications, it became famous as a revolutionary machine that changed everyone's view of smartphones. Its main advantage was the touch screen with such an interface, which was very simple and effective at the same time. It was the success of the iPhone that catapulted Apple to unimaginable heights, where it continues to remain.
iPad
When Apple introduced the iPad, many people did not understand. The tablet wasn't a hot new product, but Apple once again demonstrated what it's great at: taking an existing product and polishing it to perfection. Therefore, the iPad subsequently became the company's fastest-selling product and created a completely new tablet market. Now, iPads are going through a weak period, but they still sell twice as much as Macs and are constantly gaining points among users.
But not everything was rosy in forty years. Thus, we balance five hits with five misses, because Apple is also guilty of such.
What went wrong?
Apple III
Apple wanted to follow up the highly popular Apple II with the Model III, but it didn't succeed at all. The Apple III was supposed to attract users from the corporate world, but there were huge problems, because of which 14 thousand computers had to be returned to Apple's headquarters. The Apple III was poorly made, so it overheated, so much so that it was able to melt some of the components.
The Apple III's high price and poor application offerings didn't help much either. After five years, the Californian company finally ended the sale.
Lisa
Another "mistake" by Apple was a computer called Lisa. It was the first such machine with a graphical interface and was introduced in 1983, a year before the Macintosh. It came with an unknown accessory at the time – a mouse, which made it a revolutionary novelty. But it had similar problems to the Apple III: it was too expensive and only had a handful of programs.
Furthermore, the slowness of the entire device did not play into Apple's cards. Even Steve Jobs, who joined the Mac team after being fired from the company, tried to undermine the project in some way. The Lisa computer did not disappear as such, but practically took on another name, the Macintosh. With similar equipment, the Mac sold for significantly less money and was much more successful.
Newton MessagePad
One of the least successful Apple products ever is undoubtedly the Newton MessagePad. After all, the company itself admitted this in the video attached above, where Newton symbolically crosses out when remembering his past 40 years. The Newton was a handheld computer that was to become the next revolution after the introduction of the Macintosh. It was based on the principle of using a stylus, but it was not very fancy.
Its handwriting recognition capabilities were woeful, and it certainly didn't meet the demands of regular users. Moreover, this waste was again overpriced and its performance was insufficient. In 1997, Steve Jobs concluded that he would withdraw this product from the market. It never got the proper attention that the company expected.
Pippin
During its "lost nineties", Apple tried to break through in ways other than computer products. Among such products is Pippin, which was supposed to function as a game CD console. Its mission was to provide other companies with a certain interface into which to develop new games. There were two companies that wanted to adapt this game console format to their taste and develop games for it, but with the dominance of the PlayStation from Sony, Nintendo and Sega, they preferred to opt for their game systems. Steve Jobs dismissed the project immediately after his return.
Ping
At a time when social networks began to grow more and more, Apple also wanted to come up with something of its own. Ping was supposed to serve as a place to connect music lovers and performers, but even this step was not very successful. It was implemented in iTunes and its closedness did not stand a chance against the competition of Twitter, Facebook and other services. After two years, Apple quietly closed its social project and forgot about it forever. Although it should be remembered that within Apple Music they are again trying to create a social element.
Lisa, 2nd paragraph 2nd line: … what was accepted from the company…
Please fix it
On the other hand - what Jobs did was really not nice :D
I don't know about you, he was the first Macintosh in reality pretty badass. Of course, this will happen, and Apple also solved it quite quickly and dominated professional DTP and other fields for a considerable time.
The problem with Jobs, however, was that at the time of the creation of the Mac, without exaggeration, he pissed off Apple by creating a completely senseless artificial rivalry between the Macintosh team and the "old" Apple II team (which objectively primarily supported the company even a few years after the advent of the Mac).
This was probably really over the top and the shareholders' reaction was justified. Personally, I think that Steve Jobs became a legend precisely because of this forced departure, in the meantime he learned in many ways and developed in a certain way, for example, his activity at Pixar, where perhaps he moved the most, is quite underestimated. When he came back, he still had a great deal of idiosyncrasy, but after all, his actions were much more thought out and the results showed.