Apple's Role In Is Development

Apple has become the "it" in technology all over again. The company that was on the brink of extinction just a few years ago has picked itself back up and is growing exponentially each year. Upper management and top officials have kept close to their beliefs for Apple and have been able to push the company further in not only profits, but also product lines. Forthcoming you will find Apples current products, their short but tumultuous history and financials, and what role they have played and will continue to play in the ever evolving information systems world.

MAIN PRODUCTS

Apple's current product line include the iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro and Mac Mini- all of which are desktop and laptop computers. These computers feature the Mac OS X operating system. While laptops and desktop computers make up a significant portion of Apple's product line, the introduction of the iPod has resulted in a recent focus on music-related products. " Forty-two percent of Apple's revenue for the first fiscal quarter of 2008 came from iPod sales, followed by twenty-one percent from notebook sales and sixteen percent from desktop sales" In addition to the aforementioned products, Apple also offers iPhones, servers, multimedia and other software, and wireless networking equipment.

COMPANY HISTORY

In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak quit their jobs designing video games in order to start their own company. In the garage of Jobs' Cupertino, they founded Apple Computers. Their mission was to simplify computing and offer users a more affordable option. They introduced their first system, the Apple I, later that year. This system was an encased circuit board (users had to configure their own keyboard and monitor) which sold for $666.66 at the local electronics store. Jobs and Wozniak went on to create more refined models of their system, focusing on increasing the functionality and design of their product. They developed graphical user interfaces and introduced the mouse to the personal computer market, but unlike Microsoft they chose a proprietary architecture that would cost them in the end.

In 1980, Apple went public and proceeded to earn over $100 million from the sales of the Apple II. IBM's PC featuring a Microsoft OS debuted in 1981, sparking a decades-long rivalry in the personal computer market. The Macintosh was introduced in 1984, and its poor initial reception caused the Apple Board of Directors to force out Steve Jobs the next year. Microsoft's Windows operating system proved a viable threat and subsequently captured a large portion of the personal computing market share, leaving Apple to focus on desktop publishing. Many versions of the Mac II were released into the 1990's in order to fight the growing popularity of PC clones. The PC offered more software and lower prices due to its' generic design, forcing Apple to fight for market share unsuccessfully.

Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 and focused on the design and aesthetics of their products, introducing the popular iMac desktop computer. In 2001, Apple's next big innovation came in the form of a portable mp3 player- the iPod. Coupled with their software for playing music that has been converted to mp3 format, iTunes, the iPod captured an incredible market share due to the innovative design of the "click wheel."

ROLE COMPANY PLAYS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The development of the Apple II computer in 1977 is generally credited with the creation of the home computer market, selling millions of units through the 1980s. The later introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 brought the general public a graphical user interface (GUI), thanks to a deal made with Xerox's research and development department. The GUI enabled Apple to partner with Adobe and focus on desktop publishing and computer animation. For this reason, the Macintosh effectively became the go to machine for music, cinema, publishing and the arts. With the help of the LaserWriter, apple was able to successfully jumpstart the Desktop Publishing market (Wikipedia Apple Inc.). Another area Apple really trumped others was in the education world. Apple was able to capitalize in many public school systems by donating computers to some school systems and becoming a household name by introducing children to Apple computers.

In 1991, Apple released the PowerBook which was "a landmark product that established the modern form and ergonomic layout of the laptop (Answers.com)." Following this trend for portable devices, Apple released the Newton in 1993. The Newton was an early PDA which suffered poor sales commercially, though it created the market for handheld devices and