Apple Corporate Info And History

Apple Inc.(iPod)

Apple Inc, formerly Apple Computer Inc. is an American multinational corporation which focusing in designing and manufacturing consumer electronics and also developing software products. Apple was founded in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne . Apple are developing, selling, and supports a series of personal computers, portable media players, mobile phones, computer software, computer hardware, and hardware accessories .

iPod, The new way of listening music (the 1st and 2nd generation)

Out of all their products, the iPod is their most successful product since its introduction on October 23rd, 2001. The early iPod used 5GB Toshiba hard drives that were the size of a quarter, ARM processors (the same processors used in the Newton and Acorn), an operating system from Pixo, a large high resolution display, a lithium polymer battery, and the most recognizable aesthetic feature of the device which is the scroll wheel. This first iPod has been introduced as a Mac compatible product with a 5 GB hard drive that put "1,000 songs in your pocket." This product received moderately good response from the consumers although many of them complaints for lacking the Windows compatibility and the expensive price of $400. To response the consumer, special iPod is available for 2002 Christmas’ time that consist of 20GB of storage space, compatible with Windows PC through MusicMatch. This era also has been significant to iPod, which is the coming of iTunes in 2002. This iTunes helped users to download and buy their favorite songs over the internet.

Since the first two generation of iPod has been proven successful in penetrating the music mp3 industry, another hardware revision came in April 2003, introducing the iPod into their third generation. This new iPod have hardware revision, which had no mechanical buttons and the function buttons were moved to just below the screen and were solid state like the scroll wheel (Fig.2). This version supported both FireWire and USB 2.0., and enhancing their storage capacity from 10GB up to 40GB.

Introduction of iPod Mini

To be able to compete with market leader of mp3 industry dominated by high end flash players and penetrated the market, Apple introduced its new member of iPod family, the iPod mini during January 2004(Fig 3). Unlike the iPod, iPod mini has 5 different colors: blue, green, pink, silver, and gold. This iPod mini has smaller screens and has higher storage capacity than any of flash players out there in the market, and also lower price than the normal version which is $249. Then, in February 2005, the next generation of iPod mini is introduced with a new chipset, longer battery, and more storage capacity (6GB added).

Coming the 4th and 5th Generation

The coming of PC behemoth (HP) in order to join the Apple’s iPod really comes to fruition in 2004 with the HP + iPod line. The HP name helped iPod to enter new market share into many retailers that did not sell Apple products, such as Wal-Mart. Later on, iPod introduced their 4th generation into the market in mid 2004 where the different from the previous one was slightly smaller and had the same clickwheel introduced with the iPod mini. After launching its new iPod, Apple also introduced iPod Photo in September 2005. The device was identical to the ordinary iPod, but it had larger battery and the users can browse photo albums.

iPod Shuffle

iPod also releasing its new product which is flash based product called iPod Shuffle (Fig. 4). The new player was the size of a pack of gum and cost for $99 (for the 512MB version). This made it a great value among MP3 players, with most comparably priced players providing half the capacity. In late 2005, Apple announced that its profits had quadrupled largely due to the iPod. They also announced that over 28 million devices had been sold, giving Apple a 75% market share for digital music players . Apple has had its best quarter since it peaked 1995, and financial giant, Goldman Sachs, predicts that sales will grow even more.

iPod Nano

Introduced in September 2005, iPod Nano (Fig. 5) was released with the same design as the hard drive based iPod but it using flash drive as a storage capacity which is available in two versions, the 2GB and 4GB in either black or white cover. This iPod Nano also utilizes brand new scroll wheel from Apple. Even though it is praised for being so tiny, it get criticized for being too vulnerable to scratching.

5th Generation, the Golden era (introducing iPod Video)

Not too long after Apple introduced iPod Nano, in October 2005, the fifth generation of iPod was released (Fig. 6). With its ability to play video files (using software from PortalPlayer), its existence is significant to Apple as creating the iTunes Music Store. This iPod is available in 30GB and 60GB and top end to 80GB. Apple also equipped the new iPod with calendar, address book viewers, games, screensaver, and a PIN screen.

New Nano and Smaller Shuffle

Not satisfied with the previous iPod Nano, Apple introduced the new iPod Nano 2nd generation (Fig. 7) equipped with more rugged, alumi num clad model. The new iPod Nano gained upgrade for its brighter screen and improved battery life, and available in 2GB and 4GB both