The rise of Apple...

'Apple Inc. is one of the most influential companies in technology today, but it wasn't always that way. What started out as a one off hobby machine that a talented electronics wiz built for himself became the core of one of the largest and most successful companies of all time' (O'grady, 2009)

For years 'Microsoft Windows' was the number one for computers at home, in schools and at work but, over the past few years the 'Apple' brand has grown and grown. 'Apple has morphed imperceptibly from a small company that made cool computers, but enjoyed minuscule market share, into a global giant.' (O'Grady, 2009).

Apple now has a market cap of £140 billion, which means it is now bigger than 'Google' (£118 billion) and it is rapidly gaining on Microsoft whose market cap is around £170 billion

So where did it all start?

'Apple began in the Santa Clara Valley vicinity of California...when Stephen Gary Wozniak was introduced to Stephen Paul Jobs' (O'Grady, 2009). Wozniak liked to design computers and Jobs liked to build them.

In 1975 the 'Apple 1' was born. ' After the Apple 1 was complete Woz already had something better in mind' (O'Grady, 2009), he was always thinking of ways to improve his product, by using fewer chips and less expensive materials. They wanted to make them more powerful, faster and colourful, but since they were just a 'couple of entrepreneurial guys that didn't have the luxury of large staff or an R&D (Research and Development) budget, they had to preserve and struggle to keep it alive, but they had fun doing it'. It was their passion and commitment that has made 'Apple Inc.' what it is today.

Motherboard 'Apple 1'

Although window remains the dominant operating system, the amount of people turning to Mac's is on the rise and the rivalry between the two is bigger than ever. This is a blog I came across which talks in more detail about the rivalry between the two is bigger than ever Apple Vs Windows

Apple have been very clever with their branding and merchandising if their products. If something has the letter 'i' in front of it we automatically associate it with Apple, 'i-tunes, i-pod, ipad', etc. Apple has also been coined with being cool, fun and exciting. the i-pod adverts are eye catching, fun and colourful, all which are traits of the products themselves? The fun range of colours means that there is one to suit everyone.

When I come to think of it, I don't remember seeing any other MP3 player adverts of the TV. I think that it is fair to say that Apple rule the mp3 world with their i-pod range.I also think that in the future more and more people will turn to Mac's rather then Window's PCs. However, I think a big factor of Window's still being more popular than Mac's is the price. With Windows computers available from around £300, and Mac;s staring from around £850 it is no wonder Microsoft Windows still rule the computer world at this moment in time.

References


Books


O'Grady J, 2009. 'Apple Inc.', Greenwood Press, Westport P. 1, 7


Web


Arthur, C, 2010, 'Apple .thrilled' as quarterly profits jumps 70%', guardian.co.uk. 19th October, Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/19/apple-profits-rise-ipad-mac, Lat Accessed:30/10/10


No named author, 2009, 'Great Corporate Rivalries in 2009'. Lifedividend.co.uk. 10th July, Available at: http://lifedividend.biz/2009/07/10/great-corporate-rivalries-in-2009/, Last Accessed: 30/10/10


No named author, 'Operating systems- History of operating systems-The rise of the Apple comptuer'. psexam.com. Available at: http://www.psexam.com/Notes-for-Computer-Science/operating-systems-history-of-operating-system-article/The-Rise-of-Apple-Computer.html, Last Accessed: 30/10/10


Images


Apple Logo

http://gawker.com/374234/apple-logo-makes-you-creative-really Last Accessed: 30/10/10


Motherboard

http://www.vintage.org/special/2003/apple-1/ Last Accessed: 30/10/10


Video

Nikzarea, 2006, 'I pod AD' Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlHUz99l-eo. Last Accessed: 30/10/10