“30 years after its founding, Apple Computer has grown from a tiny start-up to a household name and cultural icon known as much for its iPod digital music players as its computers,” Ina Fried writes for CNET News. “‘The technology industry is fundamentally about change and no company can survive for long without reinventing itself,’ said Rick Rashid, head of Microsoft Research and developer of the Mach kernel, which serves as the open-source core of Mac OS X. ‘Companies that can survive for 30 years are the exception rather than the rule, and something to celebrate.'”
“Apple has a brand name as recognizable as Coca-Cola and Federal Express and last year had a record $13.93 billion in annual sales and a $1.34 billion net profit,” Fried writes. “Given the company’s current success, it’s easy to forget how it fell from the top of the tech heap in the 1990s and scuffled along as Microsoft grew into the largest software company in the world and PC makers such as Compaq Computer and IBM came to dominate the industry Jobs and Wozniak helped create.”
“But glossing over those years would make it difficult to describe just how remarkable Apple’s current renaissance is. While Compaq now only exists as a brand name sold by Hewlett-Packard, and IBM no longer makes PCs, Apple is enjoying perhaps its finest hour. The iPod is a pop-culture phenomenon. And, incredible to some, Apple is having an easier time updating its flagship Macintosh operating system than Microsoft is having with Windows,” Fried writes. “Some say there are no second acts in business, but Jobs & Co. are making mincemeat of that old chestnut.”
Much more in the full article here.
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Related articles:
For three decades Apple has sizzled while Microsoft has nearly always come up short – March 29, 2006
Wired posts ‘Apple Operating System Gallery’ to mark Apple’s 30th birthday – March 28, 2006
Apple Computer consistent innovator again and again over 30 years – March 26, 2006
Apple continues to shine as company nears 30th year – March 24, 2006
‘Thirty Apple Years – A Celebration… Through Their Advertisements’ happens April 1st in Melbourne – March 24, 2006
Mmmmmmm! Mincemeat.
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To think, I only started using Apple computers 26 years ago. Four more years to our (Apple and mine) 30th Anniversary.
Nice to see CNET doing something on Apple, but I throw them into the mix along with many other magazines/online rags that constantly lurk to FUD or inaccurately report on Apple news.
There is a related CNET article “Photos: The birth of the Lisa and Mac interface”
<http://news.com.com/2009-1041_3-6053877.html?part=rss&tag=6053877&subj=news>
Ironically, only the lead-off images in the 4 galleries can be viewed on a Mac. When clicking a link to a gallery, you are taken to a page with a larger view of the lead-off image, but there is nothing else. When clicking the back arrow, the image drops for a split second revealing a row of numbered links, which disappear as soon as the previous page rebuilds.
Tried it in Safari, FireFox and I even fired up IE, but to no avail.
Magic word “Open” – definitely not
It’s probably a decoy, to get attention and spread more bad news.
I like Patrick Norton’s (from DL.tv) take on the result of Apple’s current resurgence, especially in the personal computer arena: Welcome back. Now get used to being a target. We will see more attempts at security exploits and more attacks on technological, business, political, and cultural fronts. It is what happens to those who take the lead. They become targets. The difference between Microsoft and Apple in this, though, is that maybe, just maybe, Apple, as an entity, has enough internal fortitude and inherent quality to survive the coming attacks. Microsoft is learning that monopoly and money are not enough, especially in this industry.
Photos: The birth of the Lisa and Mac interface”
Work around for my previous post. The links don’t appear (I think) because the page load is stalling. Stopping the load with the “X” button in Safari, exposes the numbered links, which can be then accessed.
magic word “still” – still not optimal
Gallery photos seem to be doing fine on Safari now, Maccam — there’s a “page selector” right above the photo where you can go to the next image. Would’ve been better if CNET had been able to set it up as a slide show, but maybe they couldn’t make it slow enough for Windows users to read the captions…
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Interesting tidbits from Apple history — I remember using my boyfriend’s (at the time) old Apple II to do data entry in VisiCalc (geez, I’m old…), then was out of the Apple loop till probably the mid-90’s when I actually learned how to use a real computer (previous jobs had been on dumb terminals attached to mainframe). Took classes in both Mac and Windows — fell in love with the Mac, tolerated Windows — but it wasn’t until 2001 that I finally got my first home computer, the clamshell iBook. Haven’t looked back since…
Microsoft may have more users but Apple has more birthday parties.
I only started using Macintoshes 6 months ago. 29 1/2 more years to our (mine & Apples) 30th Anniversary.
CNET has always been anti-Mac. Screw them and the horse they rode in on.
“I like Patrick Norton’s (from DL.tv) take on the result of Apple’s current resurgence”
Yeah, Patrick Norton and Robert do a great job at DL.tv I highly recommend downloading and watching the show. You can download it on Tuesdays and Fridays. I have no affiliation with the show – it’s just a very informative good all-around tech show. I have never heard any bias on the show either – everyone gets bashed euqally. Check into it.