Apple is one of the tech giants that emerged in Silicone Valley during the 1970s and it all began when a 16-year old Steve Jobs was introduced to Steve Wosniak, who was 21 at the time. Jobs was once quoted as saying that his early projects with Wosniak was the main reason Apple emerged, specifically a device called a ‘blue box’ that enabled people to make long-distance calls at local call rates. The device was marketed for $150 and Jobs managed to sell more than 200 units and he shared the profits with his partner.
The Two Steves
This was the nickname given to the two young entrepreneurs, Jobs and Wozniak, and in 1975 they developed a video terminal that could logon to computers at a company by the name of Call Computer. In the same year, the two Steves hooked up with a company called Homebrew Computers and they were influenced by innovative cutting-edge computer technology, with products such as the Altair 8800, which inspired Wosniak to develop a microprocessor in their video unit, turning it into a computer. Steve Jobs immediately saw the commercial potential of what they were working on and in 1976, he manged to convince his friend to start a business and with another person by the name of Ronald Wayne, the two Steves created the Apple Computer Company.
Fast Forward to the Present Day
Apple are now one of the giants in the IT sector, with retail stores around the world and the amazing Apple CarPlay from Bankstown Sound is just one of the fields that Apple entered. If you install an Apple CarPlay unit, it is fully integrated with iTunes and your iPhone and there are online suppliers of Apple in-car entertainment units that offer the best deals.
The Birth of Apple Computers
Their first sale was a batch of printed circuit boards and both Jobs and Wosniak had to sell their personal stuff to fund the early days. The third partner, Ronald Wayne, got cold feet after a couple of weeks, as his previous business enterprise has failed and he sold his 10% share to the two Steves for a measly $800. There is a rumour that the name Apple was created primarily to get ahead of Atari in the phonebook and in a short time the Apple I computer was created. Click here for information about Office 365, Microsoft’s cloud-based set of applications.
Apple II
As soon as the Apple I went on sale, Wosniak began work on a refined version, which they called Apple II. This machine has several notable features including the use of a TV instead of a built-in monitor and the hardware unit had a built-in keyboard, which was a first at that time. This machine, along with the Commodore and Tandy, is credited with starting the home computer craze and while Apple were initially well behind the other two companies, they very quickly overtook their rivals.
The Apple iPhone
This is without doubt the most popular smartphone on the market, which was introduced in June 2007 in selected countries around the world. The company spent a lot of money on R&D and new iPhone models were released on an almost annual basis and they always remained ahead of their rivals, cementing their position as the number 1 smartphone manufacturer.
The Apple iPad
Their first tablet, the iPad was launched by Steve Jobs in January of 2010 and in the same year, Apple’s revenue actually overtook Microsoft, which signalled the rise of the portable digital device market. Just like their smartphone, the iPad steadily developed, with new models being introduced at frequent intervals.
What started out as a small business, quickly grew to the global giant it has now become and thanks to the two Steves, we can all enjoy their amazing devices. It is going to be interesting to see where the digital device development ends and there are no doubt some big surprises waiting for us in the coming years.
