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Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL (http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/SummaryQuote.asp?symbol=AAPL&selected=AAPL)) is a Silicon Valley company based in Cupertino, California, whose core business is computer technologies. Apple helped start the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with its Apple II and shaped it in the
1980s and since with the Macintosh. Apple is known for innovative software and hardware, such as the iMac; its iPod digital music player; and the iTunes Music Store.
Apple corporate mission: To make the power of computing available and accessible to everyone.
Pre-foundation
Before he co-founded Apple, Steve Wozniak was an electronics hacker. By 1975, he was working at Hewlett-Packard and helping his friend Steve Jobs design
video games for Atari. Wozniak had been buying computer time on a variety of
minicomputers hosted by Call Computer, a timesharing firm run by Alex Kamradt. The computer terminals
available at that time were primarily paper-based; thermal printers like the Texas Instruments Silent 700 were the state of the art. Wozniak had seen a 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine on how to build your own computer terminal. Using off-the-shelf parts, Wozniak designed the
Computer Conversor, a 24-line by 40-column, uppercase-only video teletype that he could use to log on to the minicomputers at
Call Computer. Alex Kamradt commissioned the design and sold a small number of them through his firm.
In 1975, Wozniak started attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club. New microcomputers such as the Altair 8800 and the IMSAI
inspired him to build a microprocessor into his video teletype and have a complete computer.
At the time the only microcomputer CPUs generally available were the $179 Intel 8080, and the $170 Motorola 6800. Wozniak preferred the 6800, but both were
out of his price range. So he watched, and learned, and designed computers on paper, waiting for the day he could afford a
CPU.
When MOS Technology released its $20 6502 chip in 1976, Wozniak
wrote a version of BASIC for it, then began to
design a computer for it to run on. The 6502 was designed by the same people who designed the 6800, as many in Silicon Valley left employers to form their own companies. Wozniak's earlier
6800 paper-computer needed only minor changes to run on the new chip.
Wozniak completed the machine and took it to Homebrew Computer Club meetings to show it off. At the meeting, Wozniak met his
old friend Jobs, who was interested in the commercial potential of the small hobby machines.
Early years
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak ("the two Steves") had been friends for some time, having met in 1971, when a mutual friend
introduced 21-year-old Wozniak to 16-year-old Jobs. Jobs managed to interest Wozniak in assembling a machine and selling it.
Jobs approached a local computer store, The Byte Shop, who said they would be interested in the machine, but only if it came
fully assembled. The owner, Paul Terrell, went further, saying he would order 50 of the machines and pay $500 each on delivery.
Jobs then took the purchase order that he had been given from the Byte Shop to Cramer Electronics, a national electronic parts
distributor, and ordered the components he needed to assemble the Apple 1 Computer. The local credit manager asked Jobs how he
was going to pay for the parts and he replied, " I have this purchase order from the Byte Shop chain of computer stores for 50 of
my computers and the payment terms are COD. If you give me the parts on a net 30 day terms I can build the computers in that time
frame deliver and collect my money from Terrell at the Byte Shop and pay you." With that, the credit manager called Paul Terrell
who was attending an IEEE computer conference at Asilimar in Pacific Grove and verified the validity of the Purchase Order.
Amazed at the tenacity of Jobs, Terrell assured the credit manager if the computers showed up in his stores Jobs would be paid
and would have more than enough money to pay for the parts order. The two Steves and their small crew spent day and night
building and testing the computers and delivered to Terrell on time to pay his suppliers and have a tidy profit left over for
their celebration and next order. Steve Jobs had found a way to finance his company without giving away one share of stock or
ownership and leveraged that into a multi million dollar company.
The machine had only a few notable features. One was the use of a TV as the
display system, whereas many machines had no display at all. This was not like the displays of later machines however, and
displayed text at a terribly slow 60 characters per second. This machine, the Apple I also included bootstrap code on ROM, which made it easier to start up. Finally, at the insistence of Paul
Terrell, Wozniak also designed a cassette interface for loading and saving programs, at the then-rapid pace of 1200 bit/s.
Although the machine was fairly simple, it was nevertheless a masterpiece of design, using far fewer parts than anything in its
class, and quickly earning Wozniak a reputation as a master designer.
Joined by another friend, Ronald Wayne, the three started to build the
machines. Using a variety of methods, including borrowing space from friends and family, selling various prized items (like
calculators and a VW bus), scrounging, white lies (or petty fraud, depending on your point of view), Jobs
managed to secure the parts needed while Wozniak and Wayne assembled them. They were delivered in June, and as promised, they
were paid on delivery. Eventually 200 of the Apple I's were built.
But Wozniak had already moved on from the Apple I. Many of the design features of the I were due to the limited amount of
money they had to construct the prototype, but with the income from the sales he was able to start construction of a very much
upgraded machine, the Apple II; it was presented to the public at the first
West Coast Computer Faire on April 16 and 17, 1977. On the first day of exhibition, Jobs introduced Apple II to a Japanese
textile technician named 水島敏雄 (Mizushima Satoshi) who became the first authorized Apple dealer in
Japan.[1] (http://www.openbook.tv/book2/2_chapter1.htm)
The main difference internally was a completely redesigned TV interface, which held the display in memory. Now not only useful
for simple text display, the Apple II included graphics, and, eventually, color. Jobs meanwhile pressed for a much improved case
and keyboard, with the idea that the machine should be complete and ready to run out of the box. This was almost the case for the
Apple I machines sold to The Byte Shop, but one still needed to plug various parts together and type in the code to run
BASIC.
Building such a machine was going to cost a lot more money. Jobs started looking for cash, but Wayne was somewhat gun shy due
to a failed venture four years earlier, and eventually dropped out of the company. Banks were reluctant to loan Jobs money; the
idea of a computer for ordinary people seemed absurd at the time. Jobs eventually met "Mike" Markkula who co-signed a bank loan for $250,000, and the three formed Apple Computer on April 1, 1976.
With both cash and a new case design in hand, the Apple II was released in 1977 and
became the computer generally credited with creating the home computer
market. Millions were sold well into the 1980s. When Apple went public in 1980, they generated more money than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956, and instantly created more
millionaires than any company in history.
A number of different models of the Apple II family were built,
including the Apple IIe and Apple
IIgs, which could still be found in many schools as late as the end of the 1990s.
Apple III and Lisa
By the '80s Apple faced emerging competition in the personal computing business. Chief
among them was IBM, the first "big name" in computing. IBM's PC model, running DOS (short for "disk
operating system", and licensed to IBM by Microsoft) was capturing a large share
of the emerging desktop computing market in large companies.
Several smaller businesses were using the Apple II, but the company felt it needed a newer, more advanced model to compete in
the corporate desktop computing market. Thus, designers of the Apple III were
forced to comply with Jobs' lofty and sometimes impractical goals. Among them was the omission of a cooling fan - it is reported
Jobs found them "inelegant." The new machines were prone to overheating, and most early models had to be recalled. The Apple III
was also expensive, and, though the company introduced an updated version in 1983, largely
a failure.
Meanwhile various groups within Apple were working on a completely new kind of personal computer, with advanced technologies
such as a graphical user interface, computer mouse, object-oriented programming and networking capabilities. These people, including Jef
Raskin and Bill Atkinson, agitated for Steve Jobs to put the
company's focus behind such computers.
It was only when they brought him to see the work being done at Xerox PARC
on the Alto in December 1979 that Jobs decided the future was in such graphics-intensive, icon-friendly computers, and supported the competing
Apple Lisa and Apple
Macintosh teams. Over the objections of some PARC researchers, many of whom (such as Larry Tesler) ended up working at Apple, Xerox granted Apple engineers 3 days of access to the PARC facilities
in return for selling them one million dollars in pre-IPO Apple stock (approximately $18mil. net). The Lisa debuted in January
1983 at $10,000. Once again, Apple had introduced a product that was ahead of its time, but
far too expensive (the company would continue to follow this pattern for the next few years), and Apple again failed to capture
the business market. The Lisa was discontinued in 1986.
The Macintosh
The Lisa project was removed from Jobs' control midway through development. Jobs soon turned his attention to the Macintosh
project, originally envisioned as a kind of "budget Lisa." The Apple
Macintosh was launched in 1984 with a now famous Super Bowl advertisement based on George Orwell's novel 1984, declaring, "On January 24, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be
like '1984'" — the obvious implication being that the Mac's new, "user friendly" GUI would liberate computing and
information from an elite of large corporations and technocrats. Apple also spawned the concept of Mac evangelism which was pioneered by Apple employee, and later Apple
Fellow, Guy Kawasaki.
Despite early concerns about the system like lack of software availability, the monochrome-only display and the closed architecture, the Macintosh brand was eventually a success for Apple and
continues to be to this day. There are those who argue that it might have been a bigger success. On a visit to Apple headquarters
in Cupertino Jobs showed Bill Gates, co-founder and now chairman of Microsoft, a
prototype of the Mac GUI. In 1985 Microsoft launched Microsoft Windows, its own GUI for IBM PCs. By that point IBM PC system had been reverse engineered and many companies were also making IBM-PC-compatibles, cheaper copies of the PC. While it did briefly
license some of its own designs, Apple did not allow other computer makers to clone the Mac until long after Microsoft had gained
a dominate position in the marketplace. By then it was too late for Apple to reclaim its lost marketshare and the Macintosh clones sold in the 1990s achieved limited success. Although the
first version of Windows was technologically inferior to the Mac, it and a PC clone could be purchased for significantly less
than the price of a Mac. In addition, Microsoft's continuing improvements to the system soon closed the technological gap. Also,
because of the open nature of the PC platform there was always more software available for Windows.
Microsoft and Windows would go on to become one of the most phenomenal business success stories of the late 20th century, and Apple would never again be the world's number one personal
computer maker.
Recent years
After the failed Macintosh Portable of 1989, a much more popular laptop, the PowerBook, was introduced
in the early 1990s. The first of these was co-designed with Sony, and established the modern layout for laptop computers that has remained popular ever since, with a rear hinge
supporting the screen, and a keyboard placed towards the back of the lower deck with a trackball (later trackpad) in front. However, the PowerBook brand suffered a blow when the PowerBook 5300 model suffered many quality problems, such as combusting lithium-ion batteries, easily chipped
cases, and poor screens. Products from Apple past & present also include operating systems such as ProDOS, Mac OS, Mac OS
X, and A/UX, networking products such as AppleTalk, and multimedia programs like QuickTime and the Final
Cut series. In 1994, Apple revamped its Macintosh line with the introduction of the Power
Macintosh, which was based on the PowerPC line of processors developed by
IBM, Motorola and Apple. These processors
utilized RISC architecture, which differed substantially from the Motorola 680X0 series that preceded it. Apple's operating system software was adjusted so that most
software written for the older processors could run in emulation on the PowerPC series.
After an internal power struggle with new CEO John Sculley in the
1980s, Jobs resigned from Apple and went on to found NeXT Inc., which ultimately failed, after a promising start. Later on, Apple in an effort to save the company, bought
up NeXT and its UNIX-based OS NeXTstep, and
this move brought Jobs back to Apple's management. One of his first acts as new acting CEO was to instigate development of the
iMac, which saved the company from going under while they had time to work on sorting out
the operating system.
More recent products include the Apple AirPort which uses Wireless LAN technology to connect computers of different brands to the Internet without wires. There are also the iBook
and Power Mac G4 computers.
In early 2002, Apple unveiled a new iMac G4. It
had a hemispherical base and a flat panel all-digital display supported by a swiveling neck. This model was discontinued in the
summer of 2004. A new model based on the G5
processor was unveiled August 31, 2004
and was made available in mid-September. This model dispenses with the base altogether; placing the CPU and the rest of the
computing hardware behind the flat-panel screen, which is suspended from a streamlined aluminum foot. This new iMac, dubbed the
iMac G5, is the world's thinnest desktop computer, measuring in at around two inches
(around 5.1 centimeters).
In mid-2003, Apple launched the fifth generation PowerPC based on the G5 processor. This was the first 64 bit computer sold to the general public.
In 2001, Apple introduced Mac OS X, an
operating system based on NeXT's NeXTstep, that finally marries the stability,
reliability and security of Unix with the ease of use of the Macintosh interface in an OS
targeted at professionals and consumers alike. Mac OS X includes a program called the Classic Environment to run Mac OS 9.1-9.2.2
under Mac OS X, making it possible to use software written for "classic" (meaning pre-X) Mac OS. Through Apple's Carbon library, developers of pre-Mac OS X software have a
relatively easy means of adapting that software to take advantage of Mac OS X's features.
Apple computers such as the PowerBook, and more recently the iBook and the iMac, are frequently featured as props in films and
television series. Occasionally the heroes use Apple computers while the villains are relegated to PC compatibles. In 1996, Apple
ran an advertising campaign for the PowerBook tying in with the film Mission: Impossible.
In addition to computers, Apple has also produced consumer devices. In the 1990s,
Apple released the Newton, an early PDA. It failed commercially, but was a forerunner of
devices such as Palm Pilot and its descendants, and PocketPCs. Through the 1990s, Microsoft began to gain a much larger
percentage of new computer users than Apple. As a result Apple fell from controlling 20% of the total personal computer market to
5% by the end of the decade. The company was struggling financially when on August
6, 1997 Microsoft bought a $150 million non-voting share of company as a result of a
court settlement between themselves and Apple. (Microsoft has since sold all Apple stock holdings.) Perhaps more significantly,
Microsoft simultaneously announced its continued support for Mac versions of its office suite, Microsoft Office and soon created
a Macintosh Business Unit. This reversed the earlier
trend within Microsoft that resulted in poor Mac versions of their software and resulted in several award-winning releases.
However market share continues to decline, reaching 3% by 2004.
In May of 2001, after much speculation, Apple announced the opening of a line of
Apple retail stores, to be located throughout the major U.S.
computer buying markets. The stores were designed for two primary purposes: to stem the tide of Apple's declining share of the
computer market, as well as a response to poor marketing of Apple products at third-party retail outlets. Initially, the Apple
Stores were opened in the U.S. only, but in late 2003, Apple opened its first Apple Store
outside the USA, in Tokyo's Ginza district. Ginza
was followed by a store in Osaka, Japan in August of 2004. More shops for Japan are supposedly in the works. Apple's first
European store opened in London in November 2004. Stores in the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham and the Bluewater
shopping centre in Kent are due to open in early 2005. Also in an effort to court a broader
market Apple opened several "mini" stores in October 2004. These stores are only one half the square footage of the smallest
"normal" store and thus can be placed in several smaller markets.
iPod and iTunes Music Store
In October of 2001, Apple introduced the iPod, a
portable digital music player. Its signature was the incredible amount of storage space, initially 5 GB, enough to hold
approximately 1,000 songs, compared to the 20-30 songs of Flash-based
players of the time. Apple has since revised its iPod line several times, introducing a slimmer, more compact design, Windows compatibility (previous iPods only interacted with Macintosh
computers), AAC compatibility, storage sizes of up to 60
GB, and easier connectivity with car or home stereo systems. On October 26th, 2004, Apple released a color version of their award
winning iPod which can not only play music but also show photos. As of November 2004, the
iPod boasted a 87.3% market share among hard-drive based players, according to NPD Group.
Apple has revolutionized the computer and music industry by signing the five major record companies to join its new music
download service, the successful iTunes Music Store. Unlike
other fee-based music services, the iTunes Music Store charges a flat $0.99 per song (or $9.99 per album). Users have more
flexiblility than on previous on-line music services. For example, they can burn CDs including the purchased songs (although a
given playlist can be burned to CD a limited number of times), share and play the songs on up to 5 computers, and of course
download songs onto an iPod.
The iTunes Music Store commercial model is one-time
purchase, which contrasts with other commercial subscription music services where users are required to pay a regular fee to be
able to access musical content (but are able to access a larger volume of music during the subscription). If these services begin
to gain traction in the marketplace, it is arguable if Apple will not reshape the iTunes Music Store in some way to stay
competitive.
The iTunes Music Store was launched in 2003 with 2 million downloads in only 16 days;
all of which were purchased only on Macintosh computers. Apple has since released a version of iTunes for Windows, allowing Windows users the ability to access the store as well. In addition, Apple
plans for a worldwide release for its music store; currently, it is only available to customers in the United States, Canada,
United Kingdom, and the Eurozone.
In January of 2004 Apple released a more compact version of their iPod player, the 4-GB iPod Mini. Although the Mini held fewer
songs than the full-in obtaining an iPod mini were to be found at the time.
In June of 2004 Apple opened their iTunes Music Store in the United Kingdom,
France, and Germany. A European Union version opened October of 2004 (actually, a Eurozone version; not initially available in the
Republic of Ireland due to the intransigence of the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) but
eventually opened Thursday January 6, 2005). A version for Canada opened in December 2004. On December 16, 2004,
Apple sold its 200 millionth song (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/dec/16itunes.html) on the iTunes Music Store to Ryan Alekman from Belchertown, Massachusetts. The download was The Complete
U2, by U2.
On 11 January 2005, an even smaller
version of the iPod was announced, this one based on flash memory instead
of using a miniaturized hard drive. The iPod shuffle, like its
predecessors, proved so popular that it sold out almost immediately, causing delays of up to four weeks in obtaining one within a
single week of its debut.
Hardware currently made by Apple
Computers
- Consumer Sub-Desktop Computer - Mac mini - Comes in two models. BYODKM
(Bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse).
- Consumer Desktop Computer - iMac - Currently the iMac G5 with 17" and 20"
models
- Consumer Portable Computer - iBook - Currently the iBook G4 with 12" and 14"
models
- Pro Desktop Computer - Power Mac G5 - Comes in four models
- Pro Portable Computer - PowerBook G4 - Comes in 12", 15" and 17"
models
- Education Desktop Computer - eMac - Also sold to regular consumers and
government employees
- Servers - Xserve - Single Processor, Dual Processor, and Cluster Node
iPod Digital Music Players
- iPod photo - Holds up to 15,000 Songs or 25,000 Photos in 2 models (30
& 60 GB)
- iPod - Holds up to 5,000 Songs (20 GB)
- iPod U2 Edition - Holds up to 5,000 songs in black and red with
U2 band members' signatures engraved on back (20 GB)
- iPod mini - Holds up to 1,500 songs in 2 models (4 & 6 GB) and 4 colors
(silver, green, pink, blue)
- iPod shuffle - Holds up to 240 songs in 2 models (512 MB & 1
GB)
- iPod Accessories
- iPod Socks
- iPod Remote
- iPod Dock
Computer Accessories
See also List of
Macintosh models grouped by CPU.
Software currently made by Apple
- Mac OS X - The client operating system that Apple ships today
- Mac OS X Server - The server operating system that Apple ships
today
iLife Digital Hub software
iLife Includes
iWork productivity suite
iWork includes
- Keynote, a professional presentation application
- Pages, a word processing and page layout application
Pro applications
- Production Suite -
Bundles Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and Motion.
- Final Cut Pro - High end video editing
- DVD Studio Pro -
Professional DVD authoring
- Logic Pro - Comprehensive music toolkit
- Shake - Advanced effects compositing
- Motion - Real Time Motion Graphics
Other applications
QuickTime
Server solutions
Note about Software
It should be noted that of these above applications, iTunes and the basic QuickTime player are available for both Macintosh
and Microsoft Windows users as free downloads. AppleWorks (Version 5 only) and QuickTime Pro are also both available for
Macintosh and Microsoft Windows users, for a fee. In addition, a version of QuickTime Streaming Server can be run on multiple
computing platforms, and even Apple Darwin can run on computers using the
x86 (or compatible) family of CPUs.
See List of Macintosh software.
Hardware formerly made by Apple
Documentation
Slogans
Company Advertising Campaigns
- "Soon there will be 2 kinds of people. Those who use computers, and those who use Apples." (Early 1980s)
- "Changing the world — one person at a time" (mid-1980s)
- "The computer for the rest of us" (1984)
- "Leading The Way" (1984)
- "The power to be your best" (1980s–1990s)
- "Think different"
(1997–2002) The most famous advertising
campaign in Apple's history
- "Switch" (2002–2003) Hoping to capture PC
users to "Switch" to the Mac platform
Product Advertising Slogans
- "I think, therefore iMac." (1998) based on René Descartes famous line, "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito ergo sum).
- "Rip. Mix. Burn." (1999) used to promote iTunes desktop CD burning capability, somewhat
controversial
- "1000 songs in your pocket." (2001) used to promote the first generation iPod's large
storage capacity and compact design
- "Rock and Roll will never die. It is, however, being reborn." (2003) used to promote
the iTunes Music Store
- "Reading. Writing. Rock 'n Roll." (2004 back-to-school sales campaign)
- "From the creators of iPod." (2004) used to market the new iMac G5
- "Life is random." (2005) used to promote the shuffle feature in the iPod Shuffle
- "Your song is in the bottle. 200 million songs. 1 in 3 wins." (2005) used during the
2005 Pepsi-iTunes promotion.
- "Give chance a chance." (2005) Used to promote iPod shuffle.
- "Random is the new order." (2005) Used to promote iPod Shuffle.
- "Enjoy uncertainty." (2005) Used to promote iPod Shuffle.
Apple as a corporation
Trademark dispute with Apple Corps
In 1981 Apple Corps, i.e.
The Beatles filed suit against Apple Computer for trademark infringement. The
suit settled with an undisclosed amount being paid to Apple Corps. This amount has been estimated to $50–$200 million, but
was later revealed to be only $80,000.
In 1986 Apple added MIDI and audio-recording capabilities to its computers, and in 1989 Apple Corps sued again. In 1991 another settlement of around $26.5
million was reached. At this time, an Apple employee named Jim Reeves added a
sampled system sound called xylophone to the Macintosh operating system,
but Apple's legal department objected on the grounds that Apple Corps would probably not like it. Reeves renamed the sound to
sosumi, which he asserted was Japanese for "the absence of musicality", but in fact can be read phonetically as "So, sue me".
The 1991 settlement outlines the rights each company has to the Apple trademark. While Apple Corps was given the right to use
the name on any "creative works whose principal content is music", Apple Computer was given the right to use the name on "goods
or services...used to reproduce, run, play or otherwise deliver such content," but not on content distributed on physical media.
[2] (http://news.com.com/Apple+vs.+Apple+Perfect+harmony/2100-1027_3-5378401.html)
In September 2003 Apple Computer was sued by Apple Corps again, this time for
introducing iTunes and the iPod. Some observers
believe the wording of the previous settlement favors Apple Computer in this case.[3] (http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2004/tc20040930_9317_tc056.htm) As of
February 2005 this suit has not yet been
resolved.
Trademark dispute with Abdul Traya
In July 1998 Abdul Traya and Stan
Berg registered the domain name www.appleimac.com, two months after Apple announced the iMac, in an attempt to draw attention to the web-hosting business they were running out of their parents basement. A
note on their site stated that their plan was to "generate traffic to our servers and try to put the domain to sale.
[sic]" [4] (http://news.com.com/2100-1023-221921.html) After a legal dispute that lasted until April
1999, Traya and Apple settled out of court with Apple paying legal fees and giving Traya a
"token payment" in exchange for the domain name. [5] (http://www.macobserver.com/news/99/april/990427/applevsteen.html)
Defamation dispute with Carl Sagan
In 1994 Apple was sued by Carl Sagan
for using his name as the internal code-name for the Power Macintosh 7100. Sagan lost the suit twice. See the Carl Sagan article for details.
Trademark dispute with CyberBritain/ Benjamin Cohen
In November 2000, CyberBritain (http://www.cyberbritain.co.uk)
registered the domain name, itunes.co.uk for an mp3 search engine. Apple were granted a UK restricted (non music) trademark for
ITUNES on 23rd March 2001. Apple and CyberBritain/ Benjamin Cohen are in a dispute over the rights to the name. The story was
broken by The Register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/06/apple_itunescouk_domain_dispute/) on the 6th December
2004. The domain name now forwards to CyberBritain's cash back/ rewards website QuickQuid.com (http://www.QuickQuid.com)
Diversity
Apple received a 100% rating on the first Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign in 2002 related to its policies on
LGBT employees. They have maintained this rating in 2003 and 2004.
However, it has been criticized for discriminating against African-Americans.[6] (http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,48154,00.html) In November 2001, a former product
design engineer filed a lawsuit in California alleging racial discrimination in that he was refused promotions and perks,
isolated from other staff and dismissed unreasonably. He further alleged he was paid less than white counterparts.
The company was also sued for sexual discrimination, although the case was dismissed after opening statements.[7] (http://www.orrick.com/practices/employment/discrimination.asp)
In 2000, Jesse Jackson singled
out Apple as a "negative example" of racial tolerance due to its failure to appoint African Americans or Latinos to the board.
[8] (http://www.lowendmac.com/musings/racism.shtml) Apple has still not made such an
appointment.
Criticism
Apple has been criticised for their vertically
integrated business model, which runs against the grain of much of the 'received wisdom' of economists, particularly for the
computer industry. However, the company is profitable. Other criticisms have included that it has been very personality driven,
especially in the two different eras of Steve Jobs' tenure; some even regard it as being a cult, or at least having cult-like
features. Jobs' infamous reality distortion field
is often cited as a criticism. From a technical standpoint, Apple has also been criticised for having a closed and proprietary
architecture with the original Macintosh, and a "not invented
here" syndrome against adopting open standards.
However, that trend has been largely reversed with Mac OS X, and the company now
has an official policy of adopting open industry standards where they exist. Apple has now used industry standard hardware
technologies for many years, which has helped to lower prices significantly. Many Apple technologies have become industry
standards where no former standard existed, e.g. ZeroConf network configuration,
FireWire, etc. Other technologies, invented elsewhere, only gained wide industry
acceptance after Apple adopted them, including 3-1/2 inch floppy disks,
SCSI, USB, Wi-Fi and, of course, graphical user interfaces. Mac OS X itself is now based on an open source kernel and core operating system called Darwin. Apple also uses an open source HTML rendering engine in its Safari web browser.
Some third-party developers are also critical of the competing factions within Apple themselves, illustrated by the perception
of an ongoing rivalry between the developers of Cocoa, which
came from NeXT, and those of Carbon, which came from Apple.
This rivalry is seen as counterproductive and unnecessary by many developers.
Apple's retail initiative has had a mixed reception. They have been considered a success in raising awareness of the Apple
brand. Retailers have suggested that the Apple-owned retail stores have preferential treatment when receiving Apple hardware, and
therefore receive limited stock product earlier, and at lower prices - an accusation that has been officially denied by
Apple.
Apple CEOs, 1977-present
External links
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