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Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL, LSE: ACP) is an American computer technology corporation with worldwide annual sales in its fiscal year 2005 (ending 24 September 2005) of US$ 13.9 billion. The company has 14,800 employees in several countries. more...

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Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple develops, sells, and supports a series of personal computers, portable media players, computer software, and computer hardware accessories. The company's best-known products include the Macintosh line of personal computers, the Mac OS X operating system, the iPod portable music player, and the iTunes Store. Apple operates retail stores in the United States, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The stores carry most of Apple's products as well as many third-party products and offer on-site support and repair for Apple hardware and software.

For a variety of reasons, ranging from its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design to its countercultural, even indie roots as a company that differentiates itself from the rest of the industry by “thinking different,” Apple has cultivated a customer base, referred to as the Cult of Mac, that is unusually devoted to the company and its brand.

History

Apple has been a major player in the evolution of personal computing since its founding in 1976. The Apple II microcomputer, introduced in 1977, was a hit with home users. In 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa, the first commercial personal computer to employ a graphical user interface, which was influenced in part by the Xerox Alto. In 1984, the Macintosh was introduced, furthering the concept of a user-friendly graphical user interface, and also introducing the mouse for the first time to a personal computer. Apple's success with the Macintosh became a major influence in the development of graphical interfaces elsewhere, with major computer operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Commodore Amiga, and Atari ST, all appearing on the market within two years of the introduction of the Macintosh.

In 1991, Apple introduced the PowerBook line of portable computers, establishing the modern ergonomic form and design that has since become ubiquitous in the portable market. The 1990s also saw Apple's market share fall as competition from Microsoft Windows and the comparatively inexpensive IBM PC compatible computers that would eventually dominate the market. In the 2000s, Apple expanded their focus on software to include professional and prosumer video, music, and photo production solutions, with a view to promoting their computers as a "digital hub". It also introduced the iPod, the most popular digital music player in the world as of August 2006.

1975 to 1980: The early years

Apple was founded on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne (and later incorporated January 3, 1977 without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak) to sell the Apple I personal computer kit at US$666.66. They were hand-built in the garage of Jobs' parents, and the Apple I was first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. Eventually 200 computers were built. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard (with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips) - not what is today considered a complete personal computer.. The user was required to provide two different AC input voltages (the manual recommended specific transformers), wire an ASCII keyboard (not provided with the computer) to a DIP connector (providing logic inverter and alpha lock chips in some cases), and to wire the video output pins to a monitor or to an RF modulator if a TV set was used.

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