No doubt that the company has been through lots of ups and downs, and there is no denying its incredible success in the digital world as well. Apple Inc. has its own style, innovations, designs, usability, appeal and most importantly...its loyal users. The only company that I can think comes close in competition is Google...but we'll get there later.
What led me to writing this post was a brief research on Steve Jobs and I realized that there are quite a few interesting facts (and some rumors) surrounding Apple. Here are 25 of 'em:
- Apple was established on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Ronald Wayne being 'the forgotten founder'.
- Unlike many companies out there, Apple didn't start in a garage, it started in a bedroom in Los Altos.
- All the three founders used to work at 'Atari' before forming 'Apple'.
- Apple-1 with the tagline 'Byte into an Apple' was the first personal computer to be released by Apple which was designed and hand built by Wozniak. It was sold for $666.66.
- Apple was incorporated on January 3, 1977 without one of its original founders Ronald Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800.
- The very first Apple logo was designed by Ronald Wayne.
- The first logo depicts Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree when he discovered gravity by an apple falling on his head; it has a poem all around its border. (Newton… a mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought.)
- The word 'Macintosh' is also a variety of an apple.
- Logo was redesigned in 1977 by Ron Janoff. The only instruction that Ron had got from Steve Jobs was, “Don't make it cute”.
- Janoff then presented two logos to Jobs, one with a bite and the other without. And we all know what Jobs went for.
- According to an urban legend the reason for picking the logo with a bite in the apple was to pay homage to genius computer scientist Alan Turing who committed suicide by taking a bite from a poisoned apple. The designer and the company however denies any such theory. (Co-incidence?)
- The other theory behind the logo is that Apple chose the rainbow colored logo to pay tribute to the 'the tree of knowledge' mentioned in Adam and Eve's story in the Bible. So the bite represents the bite of knowledge. Again the designer finds this theory interesting but denies it being true.
- Janoff denies any interesting story behind the logo, the only reason it is an apple is because the company is named Apple, the bite was chosen so that the fruit Apple is not confused with any other fruit. (Interview with Ron Janoff)
- Apple's first GUI computer was called Apple Lisa which is rumored to be named after Steve Job's first daughter Lisa Nicole Brennan Jobs. Apple denies these rumors by saying that Lisa stands for 'Locally Integrated Software Architecture'. (Co-incidence again?)
- Apple also made the first consumer digital cameras. The Apple Quicktake was launched in 1994 and was discontinued later in 1997. An easy-to-use digital camera that connected to any Macintosh computer by way of an Apple serial cable. The camera was capable of storing eight photos at 640x480 resolution, 32 photos at 320x240 resolution, or a mixture of both sizes.
- Jobs also created a company called 'Pixar' which was later bought by Disney, making him the largest individual shareholder of Disney.
- Before coming up with the name iPod, Steve had already decided its tagline as “1,000 songs in your pocket.” Giving copywriter Vinnie Chieco complete freedom to come up with a name. When Chieco saw the prototype he instantly thought of the movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey and phrase “Open the pod bay door Hal!” symbolizing spaceship's relationship with small independent pods (personal computer and music player), Chieco just added an 'i' to the pod.
- When 'iTunes' store was first launched, it had sold approximately 275,000 tracks within its first 18 hours. It sold 70 million songs in its first year.
- The Apple store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan (the cube) is surely one of the most photographed landmarks in the world.
- Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior VP of Industrial Design, has worn the same shirt in every Apple product introduction video since 2000.
- Steve Jobs' birth father is Syrian Muslim, 'Abdulfattah Jandali' and was later adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. Jobs was Buddhist and a strict vegan.
- Apple was the first company to introduce the mouse and trackpad.
- Apple didn’t sell a Windows-compatible iPod until nine months after the iPod was introduced.
- Steve Jobs was awarded the National Medal of Technology from Ronald Reagan.
- In 2008, 'Bloomberg' accidentally published Steve Jobs' 2,500 words obituary leaving blank spaces for his age and cause of death. The opening sentence described Jobs as the man who “helped make personal computers as easy to use as telephones, changed the way animated films are made, persuaded consumers to tune into digital music and refashioned the mobile phone.” (Source)
You can also download a free pdf version of this article.
He was a great man. Your legacy will live on forever!!!
i love this info and also i like great people who know so much and i love ipads and othor things
yes it will live forever and i love your work
Amazing - we will never get another steve jobs
love the product...not sure i could abide the man
typing the comment through his product
steven p. jobs.....internet, inform, inspire, and individual....you really did make us think different
after i read this book for a report i truely have new respects for steve and Apple....but i'm just sad that i didn't realize who he really was when he died....i thought "people die every day." yes it's true but steve jobs wasn't just a person he was...a....i cant put it into words, just wow. im just grateful for these wonderful visionaries in our world and hope that i can be one too.
steve....you really did put a ding in the universe....thank you
Beautifully said. :)
Those look perfect!
I love my mom