As Apple turns 50 today, Northumbria University’s Nick Dalton takes a look at some of the most notable tech pioneers.
A version of this article was originally published by The Conversation (CC BY-ND 4.0)
In the early 1970s, the idea of the average person owning a computer sounded absurd. Computers back then were more akin to aircraft carriers or nuclear power plants than home appliances – large machines housed in data centers used by professional teams, government employees, universities and large corporations.
Then came Apple.
Founded on April 1 1976 by ‘dropouts’ Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the Silicon Valley startup did not invent the computer. What it did was very important: it helped transform the computer into a personal technology.
Before Apple, computers were mostly sold in kit form. Jobs realized that people want it pre-assembled and ready to run. The first Apple I units, with handmade koa wood cases, now sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As an early adopter of Apple and an app developer, here are my picks for the company’s (and Jobs’) most significant technological achievements of the past 50 years.
Apple II – beige but different
Early human computers were more of a hobby than a functional tool. The Apple II, introduced in June 1977, introduced something new: style. Even its color – beige – was different, compared to the black metal boxes that were common at the time.
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The use of color graphics was fresh and exciting, and the keyboard felt satisfying to use. A simple speaker, with only one sound, was cleverly manipulated to produce tones and even speech-like sounds. The design revolution extended to the packaging: Jerry Manock, Apple’s first in-house designer, put the device in a molded plastic case that looked sleek and functional.
Mouse – a new way of communication
In 1979, 24-year-old Jobs – hearing that technology giant IBM was acquiring Apple – went looking for the next big thing. Imaging company Xerox, seeking pre-IPO shares in Apple, offered to visit its nearby research labs as a lure. Jobs realized that researchers like Alan Kay at Xerox’s Palo Alto research center were creating the next generation of computing interfaces.
Key to this was a device invented by Kay’s mentor, Douglas Engelbart, at Stanford University in the mid-1960s and named the ‘mouse’. Engelbart’s vision of computers as machines to enhance the human mind inspired Kay and his colleagues to create graphical displays where users interacted with scroll bars, buttons, menus and windows.
Macintosh – the beginning of the introduction of the modern product
Jobs thought that anyone should be able to use a computer. In January 1984, the first Apple Mac pushed this idea to new heights. The usual need for obscure computer instructions (and manuals) disappeared. Beginners like me feel like we just know how to do everything.
But the launch of the Mac wasn’t just another technology move for Apple. It also inspired the now-familiar cultural moment of modern product launches. After a hilarious Super Bowl ad directed by Ridley Scott, Jobs used a 1,500-seat theater on January 24 to perform a stage play centered on one charismatic presenter. Jobs pulled a small, square and now beige computer (then known as a Macintosh) out of his bag – and began speaking to himself, to rapturous applause.
Pixar – The Jobs side hustle
In its first decade, Apple grew at an exceptional rate – but also came close to bankruptcy several times. This led to one of the most dramatic moments in Apple’s history when, in May 1985, the company laid off jobs.
A year later and now running the startup NeXT Inc, Jobs bought part of George Lucas’s film company which was renamed Pixar. Its RenderMan software produces images by spreading processing across multiple machines simultaneously.
Pixar, jokingly referred to as Jobs’ “side hustle”, would become one of the most influential (and valuable) animation companies, having released the first fully computer-animated film in Toy Story (1995).
Mac – a meeting of minds
After a failed attempt to develop a new operating system with IBM, Apple ended up buying Jobs’ company NeXT. In September 1997, he returned to Apple as interim CEO with the company “two months from bankruptcy”. This move, although welcomed by many Apple users, has alarmed some of its employees. Jobs immediately began laying off workers and closing down failed products.
During this restructuring, he visited Apple’s design studio and immediately hit it off with young British designer Jony Ive. Their meeting of minds resulted in the revolutionary candy-colored iMac of 1998. NeXT’s small, cheap, iMac (the ‘i’ stood for Internet) machines also started another Apple trend: abandoning aging technology. The floppy disk drive was phased out in favor of the CD drive – a move that was widely criticized at the time, but later widely copied.
iPod – 1,000 songs in your pocket
For Apple, computing was always more than, well, computing. In 2001, the company began to focus on audio and video processing, not just text and images. In November of that year, it released the iPod – a personal music player capable of storing “1,000 songs in your pocket”, compared to a maximum of 20-30 on each Sony Walkman cassette.
The iPod used a nice ‘click wheel’ to operate the screen. Music is synced through a new system called iTunes. In 2005, people used iTunes to manage audio downloaded automatically from the Internet using a process called RSS. This puts the pod into podcasting.
iPhone – a computer in everyone’s hands
By 2007, several cell phone companies had approached Apple about integrating the iPod with their phones. Instead, on January 9, Jobs revealed Apple’s most ambitious product yet: a combined phone, music player and Mac computer – all in the size of a handset without a physical keyboard and a large screen.
Most media ‘experts’, from TechCrunch to the Guardian, have predicted that the iPhone will bomb. Steve Ballmer, then CEO of Microsoft, scoffed at the US$500 price tag, saying no one would buy it. In fact, 1.4m iPhones were sold by the end of the year – and over 3bn more since then. This put the computer in everyone’s hands – and opened the door to social media as we know it today.
App Store software revolution
In mid-2008, the iPhone enabled third-party developers to create a bewildering array of new applications. At the same time, the App Store – launched on July 10 2008 – faced one of the most complex problems: how to distribute and sell these ‘apps’. Historically, they were often copied and distributed freely. The App Store has changed this, using strong encryption to ensure that a copy for sale can only be used by that particular user, thus eliminating software piracy.
By inventing the first (anonymous) App Store, Apple changed the way people discover and buy software. This led to an explosion of apps and a simple but powerful idea: whatever you wanted to do, someone, somewhere, has already built it. Apple captured this change in a slogan that has become part of everyday language: “There’s an app for that”.
Again and again, this unusual company has expected the importance of opening a computer for everyone. Happy birthday, Apple.
Written by Dr Nick Dalton
Nick Dalton is an associate professor in the School of Computer Science at Northumbria University in Newcastle. His background is as a computer scientist who crosses between architecture and computing. His main professional work is in the design, development and evaluation of human computer communication by experts in the design of ubiquitous computing technology.
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