Thomas Gale
10.10.11
Apple is an American situated computer technology company that develops and builds
personal computers, computer software, and electronics for consumers. Their list of
products created under the Apple brand name include the Macintosh line of computers
(more commonly known as just the Mac) and their associated operating system Mac OS X,
the iPad line of tablet computers, the iPod line of portable media players, the iPhone line of
multimedia supporting smartphones, programs such as the iTunes media browser and
Safari internet browser, music production tool Logic Studio, professional audio and filmindustry software Final Cut Studio, and even more.
iPhone
Macintosh
Founded on April 1st in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Apple was
established to sell the personal computer kit known as Apple 1 that was hand-built solely
by Steve Wozniak, and only consisted of a motherboard rather than a complete computer
system. Since then, Apple has gone on to produce a large line of full personal computers
and a variety of other electronic devices and computer software, and is well renowned
within the computer industry alongside other computer technology company Microsoft and
their Windows line of computers.
Being a company that builds a variety of computer technology products, Apple releases new
versions of their technology onto the marketplace when there is a significant advancement
over the previous version of the product, and have also made variations of it’s products
(such as different sizes, colour variations, different hard-drive sizes, varying space and
limitations, etc) to appeal to different demographs, and particularly to people that are
looking for specifics system specs so that the item is just right for them.
For example, the MacBook line of notebook computers/laptops
that had premiered on May 16th 2006 was quietly discontinued
and pulled from the public on July 20th 2011 in favor of the
MacBook Air, a branch line of the MacBook product that was
originally released in January 29th 2008 and boasted a sleeker
look with a slightly smaller hard-drive and other minor
differences. That same day, a new version of MacBook Air was
released that boasted a more powerful processor, a backlit
keyboard, and the v4.0 update to BlueTooth. The MacBook was
not completely pulled from the market, however it is now
only available for educational institutions to purchase.
MacBook Air
The next two slides are going to present some of Apple’s lines of products and their branch
line, as well as listing other details; such as whether the product was discontinued in favor
of being carried on by another product from the line, or if it and the branching products are
still being given equal care and upgraded together.
Product Line
Apple I
Apple II
Apple II Plus
Apple III
Apple IIe
Lisa
Apple III Plus
Macintosh
Apple IIc
Macintosh II
Apple IIc Plus
Apple Iie Platinum
Macintosh LC
Powerbook
Power Macintosh
Power Macintosh G3
iMac
Power Macintosh G4
Power Macintosh G5
Mac Pro
Product Run
Type
1976 - 1977
1977 - 1979
1979 - 1982
1980 - 1983
1983 - 1984
1983 - 1984
1983 - 1984
1984 - 1987
1984 - 1988
1987 - 1990
1988 - 1990
1990 - 1993
1990 - 1991
1991 - 1994
1994 - 1997
1997 - 1998
1998 - Now
1998 - 2003
2003 - 2006
2006 - Now
Desktop Computer
Product Line
Product Run
Type
iPod
iPod Touch
2001 - 2008
2008 - Now
Portable Media Player
iPhone
2007 - Now
Multimedia
Smartphones
iPad
2009 - Now
Tablet Computers
MacBook
2006 - Now
Notebook Computers
OS X
2001 - Now
Operating System
Apple’s brand is the key driving force behind the success of the company as a
whole; it wasn’t just because of technology such as the iPod or Mac. The prime
of the company’s strategy focuses on providing innovative and user-friendly
products that are available to and easily useable by anyone and everybody, and
it’s services being aligned with the digital hub strategy where a range of both
Apple and non-Apple computer products can be used without needing any workaround to get the devices and services working. These devices and services
include the iPod, cellular phones, digital cameras, and personal digital
assistants.
The Apple brand is also extremely
notable for being able to deliver their
uniqiue experience through their easily
identifiable user interfaces, with a key
example being their iPhone product’s
touch-screen mechanics, iTunes, and
the Apple Apps store. Combined with
their shining customer service, they
are a prime example of how big an
impact a well thought out strategy for
brands can have.
The financial success of Apple is also all down to the strength of their brand,
which holds forever strong to this day as the single largest computer technology
company in the world through their revenue and profit. Since their debuts, the
iPod, iTunes, iPhone, and iPad have gone on to become highly relevant and
important for a large number of people to use in their everyday lives and get
the things they want, when they want. These sales have also had a positive
impact on the Mac computers sales, indicated by a dramatic rise that was
started from the first release of the iPod, and has been kept going with further
releases of new products under the ‘i’ name.
One of Apple’s most famous advertisement methods was the 1984 commercial for the
upcoming Macintosh computer system, and was based on the novel that had the year as it’s
name (Nineteen Eighty-Four). The advert presents a dystopian future ruled by a televised
‘Big Brother’ style character that rules with an iron fist and orders every person around,
and a lone human female (who wears a white shirt that features an image of the Macintosh
computer) wielding a hammer running towards the screen and hurling the hammer towards
it, causing it to explode and shock the people sitting before the screen. The screen fades to
black, and a voiceover that announced the following message: “On January 24th, Apple
Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984”.”
Despite issues with copyright owners for Nineteen Eighty-Four and not being personally
satisfied with the end result, the commercial went on to become legendary within the
industry, and one of the most memorable American commercials of all time.
Much later on, Apple found itself inventing a new advertising scheme that proved to be
almost as iconic and memorable as the 1984 one; the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” lines of
adverts. These adverts place two people alongside each other, and has one representing
Apple’s Mac computer line while the other represents other general computer such as
Microsoft’s Windows computer line. There were at least 20 different versions of the advert,
each showcasing some form of problem with PC’s that the Mac was being advertised as
being able to handle much more efficiently. This included problems such as constant
freezing/crashing, time consumed when loading programs and files up, and the easier way
of multi-tasking and handling several jobs at once.