Apple Computer

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Apple Computer, Inc.
Type Public (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Founded California (April 1, 1976)
Location Cupertino, California, USA
Key people Steve Jobs, CEO
Timothy D. Cook, COO
Peter Oppenheimer, CFO
Philip W. Schiller, SVP Marketing
Jonathan Ive, VP Industrial Design
Industry Computer hardware and software
Products Mac OS X
iMac
eMac
Power Mac
PowerBook
iBook
iPod
Apple Cinema Display
Mac mini
Xserve
AirPort
QuickTime
iLife
iTunes
iWork
Mighty Mouse
Aperture
Revenue $13.93 billion USD (image:green up.png$5.65B FY 2005)
Employees 13,426 (2004)
Website www.apple.com

Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a Silicon Valley company based in Cupertino, California, whose core business is computer technologies. Apple helped commence the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II microcomputer and has since further shaped it with the Macintosh. Apple is known for its innovative, well-designed hardware, such as the iPod and iMac, as well as software offerings exemplified through iTunes as part of the iLife suite and Mac OS X, its flagship operating system.

Contents

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History

Main article: History of Apple Computer
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Hardware currently made by Apple

Computers

  • Consumer Sub-Desktop Computer - Mac mini - Comes in three models. BYODKM (Bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse). [1][2]
  • Consumer Desktop Computer - iMac - Currently the iMac G5 (with iSight) with 17" and 20" models [3][4]
  • Consumer Portable Computer - iBook - Currently the iBook G4 with 12" and 14" models [5][6]
  • Education Desktop Computer - eMac - Now only sold to educational institutions [13][14]

iPod Digital Music Players

  • iPod - Holds up to 7,500 Songs (20,000 photos) or 15,000 songs (25,000 photos) in 2 models (30 & 60 GB) in both black and white. The most recent iPods play videos, music, podcasts, and allow the user to view photos. [18]
  • iPod nano - Holds up to 500 or 1,000 songs (25,000 photos) in 2 models (2 & 4 GB) and 2 colors (white, black) [19]
  • iPod shuffle - Holds up to 120 or 240 ($129) songs in 2 models (512 MB & 1 GB) [20]
  • Harry Potter 30GB Collector's iPod [21]

Computer Accessories

See also: List of Macintosh models grouped by CPU

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Software currently made by Apple

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Operating systems

  • Mac OS X - The client operating system. The current version is 10.4.3., Codenamed "Tiger" [29]
  • Mac OS X Server - The server operating system. The current version is 10.4.3. [30]
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Pro applications

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Consumer applications

  • iWork - Bundles the following software together: [36]
    • Keynote, a professional presentation application
    • Pages, a word processing and page layout application
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QuickTime

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Server solutions

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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 6 and QuickTime Pro are also both available for Macintosh and Microsoft Windows users, for a fee, though the former is available only through the online "Apple Store for Education."[38] In addition, a version of QuickTime Streaming Server can be run on multiple computing platforms, and even Darwin can run on computers using the x86 (or compatible) family of CPUs. Despite pressure, Apple has chosen not to license Mac OS X to computers manufactured outside the company. However, several PowerPC emulators, including PearPC and CherryOS, an unlicensed copy of PearPC, allow users to run Mac OS X and other operating systems simultaneously.

See also: List of Macintosh software

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Hardware formerly made by Apple

Main article: List of products discontinued by Apple Computer
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Documentation

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Slogans

Company Advertising Campaigns

  • "Byte into an Apple" (Late 1970s)
  • "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)
  • "There's no telling how far it can take you" (1980s, at least 1984 when it was used on an ad for the Apple IIc)
  • "The power to be your best" (1980s–1990s)
  • "Think different" (1997–2002)
  • "Switch" (2002–2003) Hoping to capture PC users to "Switch" to the Mac platform

Product Advertising Slogans

  • iMac, iBook, and Mac mini
    • "iThink, therefore iMac." (1998) based on René Descartes famous line, "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito ergo sum).
    • "The iMac to Go." (1999) used to market the introduction of the iBooks.
    • "Where did the computer go?" (2004) used to market the introduction of the new iMac G5
    • "From the creators of iPod." (2004) used to market the introduction of the iMac G5
    • "The most affordable Mac ever." (2005) used to market the introduction of the Mac mini.
    • "Now showing. The new iMac G5" (2005) used to market the new iMac G5 released in October 2005.
  • PowerMac and PowerBook
    • "The plot thins." (1999) -- used to market "thinner" PowerBook G3 models code-named "Lombard", introduced May 1999
    • "Two Brains are better than one" (2000) used to market the introduction of the dual processor PowerMac G4s
    • "Less is more" (2003) used to market the introduction of the PowerBook G4s
    • "The world's fastest computer" (2003) used to market the introduction of the PowerMac G5s, somewhat controversial
    • "Sends other UNIX boxes to /dev/null" (2003) used to advertise Mac OS X-equipped PowerBooks
    • "Higher Resolution. Better Mileage" (2005) used to describe the higher resolution and better battery life on the new PowerBooks (October 2005)
  • iPod and iTunes
    • "1000 songs in your pocket." (2001) used to promote the first generation iPod's large storage capacity and compact design
    • "Mini. The next big thing." (2004) used to market the iPod mini
    • "The best keeps getting better" (2004) used to market the iPod 4th generation
    • "10,000 songs in your pocket." (2004) used to market the iPod 4th generation
    • "Life is random." (2005) used to market iPod shuffle.
    • "Give chance a chance." (2005) used to market iPod shuffle.
    • "Random is the new order." (2005) used to market iPod shuffle.
    • "Enjoy uncertainty." (2005) used to market iPod shuffle.
    • "1,000 songs. Impossibly small." (2005) used to market iPod nano.
  • iTunes
    • "Rip. Mix. Burn." (2001) used to promote iTunes desktop CD burning capability, somewhat controversial
    • "Rock and Roll will never die. It is, however, being reborn." (2003) used to promote the iTunes Music Store
    • "The best Windows app ever." (2003) used to promote iTunes on Windows
    • "Hell Froze Over." (2003) used to promote iTunes on Windows
    • "Welcome to the digital music revolution." (2004) used to promote iTunes
    • "Drink. Win. Play." (2005) used during the 2005 Pepsi-iTunes promotion.
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Corporate Affairs

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Logo

The original Apple logo
The original Apple logo

The original Apple logo was designed by Steve Jobs and Ron Wayne and depicts Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. However this design was soon to be replaced by the now famous rainbow apple with a "bite" taken out of it. It was one of a set of designs Rob Janoff presented Jobs in 1976 [39]. In 1998, the logo became single-colored, though no specific color is prescribed; for example, it is grey on the Power Mac G5, blue (by default) in Mac OS X, chrome on the 'About this Mac' panel and the boot screen in OS X 10.3 and 10.4, and white on the iBook and PowerBook G4. The logo's shape is one of the most recognized brand symbols in the world, and is featured quite prominently on all Apple products and retail stores.

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Diversity

In recent years, many lawsuits have been filed against Apple computer for its treatment of racial minorities as well as its hiring (and wrongful termination) practices against Blacks, Middle Easterners, South Asians and East Asians.

In one of the largest racial discrimination lawsuits in its history, Apple was sued for discriminating against African-Americans. [40] for $40 million.

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. [41] Apple has still not made such an appointment, claiming that they instead appoint individuals to their board of directors based on qualification instead of ethnicity.

On October 25th, 2005, Apple saluted the late Rosa Parks, heroine of the civil rights movement in USA, with a tribute on their website. They had previously used her image in their 1997 "Think Different" campaign.

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Criticism

Apple was criticized for its vertically integrated business model, which runs against the grain of some of the "perceived wisdom" of economists, particularly for the computer industry. However, the company is profitable. Other criticisms included that it was personality driven, especially in the two different eras of Steve Jobs' tenure, and some critics even regarded it as 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 was also criticised for having a closed and proprietary architecture with the original Macintosh, and a "not invented here" attitude against adopting open standards.

That trend was largely reversed with Mac OS X, and the company now has an official policy of adopting relevant open industry standards. Apple has used industry standard hardware technologies for many years, which helped lower prices significantly. Many Apple technologies have become industry standards where no former standard existed, e.g. ZeroConf network configuration, FireWire, etc. Non-Apple technologies 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 is based on a free software / open source software kernel and core operating system called Darwin. Apple also uses an open source framework called WebKit in its Safari web browser.

Many Open source software advocates are often critical of Apple's attempt to appeal to their particular movement. Such advocates claim that such a marketing scheme is not taken seriously enough by Apple because of the fact that Mac OS X has many proprietary technologies in specifically essential areas. Other Open Source advocates usually make a counter-argument relative to the idea that Apple has done much more for open source software than many other major commercial software developers by releasing large portions of source code to the public through the APSL.

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 despite being successful in raising awareness of the Apple brand. Retailers have suggested that Apple-owned retail stores receive 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.

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Apple CEOs, 1977-present

Steve Jobs, the current CEO.
Enlarge
Steve Jobs, the current CEO.
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Notable Litigation

From the 1980s to the present Apple has been plaintiff or defendant in notable civil actions in the United States and elsewhere. Several of these actions have determined significant case law for the technology industry, while others simply captured the attention of the public and media.

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Trademark dispute with Apple Corps

In 1978 Apple Corps (The Beatles-founded record label and holding company) filed suit against Apple Computer for trademark infringement. The suit settled in 1981 with an undisclosed amount being paid to Apple Corps. This amount had been estimated to $50–$200 million, but was later revealed to be $80,000. As a condition of the settlement, Apple Computer agreed to stay out of the music business.

In 1986 Apple added MIDI and audio-recording capabilities to its computers, and in 1989 Apple Corps sued again, claiming violation of the 1981 settlement agreement. In 1991 another settlement of around $26.5 million was reached. At this time, an Apple employee named Jim Reekes added a sampled system sound called xylophone to the Macintosh operating system, but Apple's legal department objected citing the agreement with Apple Corps. Reekes renamed the sound to sosumi, which he asserted was Japanese and meant nothing musical, 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. [42] In other words, Apple Computer agreed that it would not package, sell or distribute physical music materials.

In September 2003 Apple Computer was sued by Apple Corps again, this time for introducing iTunes and the iPod which Apple Corps believed was a violation of the previous agreement by Apple not to distribute music. Some observers believe the wording of the previous settlement favors Apple Computer in this case. [43] Other observers speculate that Apple Computer may be forced to offer a much larger settlement this time which may even result in Apple Corps becoming a major shareholder in Apple Computer or, perhaps may result in Apple Computer splitting the iPod and related business into a separate firm. [44]

As of September 2005 the suit was not resolved.

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Apple v. Franklin

In 1982 Apple filed a lawsuit against Franklin Computer Corp., alleging that Franklin's ACE 100 personal computer used illegal copies of Apple's operating system and ROM. Decided in Franklin's favor but reversed by the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Apple v. Franklin established the fundamental basis of copyright of computer software.

As a result, Apple began embedding an encrypted image in ROM.

This icon displays "Stolen from Apple Computer". There is also a code to display this icon. Obviously, if the Apple employees could walk up to illegal clones and display this icon, it would be an open and shut case of illegal copyright violation.

Some of the locations:

Macintosh Plus

  1. Press the programmer interrupt switch.
  2. Enter G 40E118 into the debugger

This will give you a tiny Stolen from Apple Computer message in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

  Or you can find the icon data at $0040E132.

Macintosh SE

  1. Press the programmer interrupt switch.
  2. Enter G 4188A4 into the debugger

     The following computers all share the Mac SE ROM, so they can be found at the same location:

Macintosh SE/30 Macintosh IIx Macintosh IIcx

   You can find the icon data at $408A065A.
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Apple v. Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, et al

In 1988, after the introduction of Microsoft Windows 1.0, Apple filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard alleging that Windows and HP's NewWave violated Apple's copyrights in the Macintosh user interface. Apple v. Microsoft was one of the significant look and feel copyright lawsuits of the 1980s. After several years in court, Apple's claims against Microsoft were dismissed, primarily due to a preexisting license to Microsoft from Apple. The decision was upheld on appeal in 1994.

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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]" [45] 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. [46]

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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.

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Trademark dispute with Benjamin Cohen

In November 2000, Benjamin Cohen of CyberBritain registered the domain name "itunes.co.uk" for an MP3 search engine; his first choice, "tunes.co.uk", was taken. However, he never actually used the domain name for this purpose or ran any company using this name; in fact, the domain name was inoperative for a long time. Apple was granted a UK restricted (non music) trademark for ITUNES on March 23, 2001, and launched its popular iTunes music store service in the UK in 2004. Once they had done this, Mr Cohen reactivated the domain name, which was then for a while redirected to iTunes biggest rival, Napster. The domain name then forwarded to CyberBritain's cash back/rewards website.

In 2005, Apple took the matter to the Dispute Resolution Service operated by .uk domain name registry Nominet UK, stating that they had rights in the name "iTunes" and that the use of the domain name by Mr. Cohen's company was abusive (these being the two tests under the Dispute Resolution Service). The dispute was not resolved at the free mediation stage and Apple paid for an independent expert to decide the case, who decided in Apple's favor in the dispute. [47] Mr. Cohen immediately launched a media offensive stating that the DRS was biased towards large businesses and made frequent threats of lawsuits against Nominet.

This version of events gained wide press coverage, and although Nominet responded by publicising the facts of the case, their version of events did not capture public imagination to the same extent. However, Mr. Cohen then stated that the DRS was unfair for a number of reasons and stated that he would take Nominet to the High Court via a process called Judicial Review. Nominet said that he should appeal the case via the appeal process in the DRS. Mr. Cohen refused to do this, and after several months did issue proceedings. The judge at first instance rejected his case, and Mr. Cohen's company has asked for a rehearing. The case continues, but in the interim the domain name has been transferred to Apple in accordance with the Expert's decision and it now points to the music site. The High Court proceedings are not an appeal of the Nominet DRS Decision.

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Apple v. Does

In November 2004, three popular websites about Apple rumors released information about two unreleased Apple products, the Mac mini and an as yet unreleased product codenamed Asteroid, also known as Project Q97. Apple Insider, Power Page, and Think Secret were all brought into the suit under the grounds that they published trade secrets. The suit has brought up the current status of bloggers, and whether they hold the same protection that journalists do. In February 2005 it was decided by a court official in California that the bloggers do not have the same shield laws as journalists. They were forced to give up their sources, leading to multiple other lawsuits. In a related case, all three websites have gone on to fight the journalistic status decision, and are also in the process of settling with Apple Computer.

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iPod Class-Action Settlement

In May 2005 Apple entered into a settlement regarding the battery life on iPod music players sold prior to May 2004. Eligible members of the class are entitled to extended warranties, store credit, cash compensation, or battery replacement.

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See also

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References

  • "Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania and Business Blunders" by Jim Carlton
  • "Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company" by Owen Linzmayer
  • "Infinite Loop" by Michael Malone
  • "Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything" by Steven Levy
  • 1 - Mac Observer "No G5 PowerBooks anytime soon"
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Further reading

  • "Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania and Business Blunders" by Jim Carlton
  • "Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company" by Owen Linzmayer
  • "Infinite Loop" by Michael Malone
  • "Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything" by Steven Levy
  • "Revolution in the Valley" by Andy Hertzfeld
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External links

Commons
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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Business Ratings

  • Buyblue.org rating on Political Contributions; Labor & Human Rights; Environment; Corporate and Social Responsibility; Employment Equality; and Industry Practices


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