Apple history - page 9

May 1, 2008: The iTunes Store takes a gigantic step toward cinematic relevancy, selling new movies on the day of their DVD releases for the very first time.

“We’re thrilled to bring iTunes Store customers new films for purchase day-and-date with the DVD release,” says Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes, in a press release. “We think movie fans will love being able to buy their favorites from major and independent studios.”

Movies out that week include Cloverfield, Juno, Alvin and the Chipmunks and American Gangster.

April 30, 2010: Almost a month after the first-gen iPad went on sale, the first Wi-Fi + 3G iPads arrive in the hands of U.S. customers.

The devices ship in boxes identical to the Wi-Fi-only models, but with an additional sticker noting their cellular connectivity capability. The tablets come preloaded with micro-SIM cards branded AT&T, the only wireless carrier that initially supports the iPad.

April 29, 2010: Apple CEO Steve Jobs pens “Thoughts on Flash,” an open letter to explain why, basically, Adobe Flash kind of sucks. The letter marks the beginning of the end for the once-omnipresent plugin that powered multimedia in internet browsers for years.

Following the devastatingly blunt broadside, Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayen hits back at Apple, arguing against Jobs’ complaints. But the Apple leader has clearly made up his mind: iOS devices will never support Flash. The writing is on the wall.

April 28, 2003: Apple opens the iTunes Music Store, revolutionizing the music industry and digital distribution of content.

At a time when getting music online mostly means illegal downloads from pirate services like Napster, iTunes quickly proves that customers will pay for songs — provided the service is good enough.

April 27, 2008: Psystar’s first Mac clones ship to customers. The company’s new Open Computer means that, for the first time since the mid-1990s, there’s no need to assemble a “hackintosh” to run OS X on a non-Apple computer.

Unlike previous clone Macs, however, Psystar’s low-priced computers don’t come with Cupertino’s blessing. Naturally, a fight ensues.

April 26, 1996: Mac OS Copland, Apple’s eagerly anticipated but much-delayed operating system for the Macintosh, suffers a fatal blow when the senior VP in charge of the project leaves the company.

David C. Nagel, Apple’s chief technologist, previously promised Mac OS Copland would ship to users by mid-1996 at the latest. With meeting that deadline no longer possible, he leaves Apple for a job running AT&T Laboratories.

It’s yet another sign that Apple’s top-to-bottom Mac operating system upgrade is in major trouble.

April 25, 1990: Steve Jobs shuts down Pixar’s hardware division (yes, it used to have one!), ending production of the pricey Pixar Image Computer immediately.

Jobs sells the company’s hardware unit to Fremont, California-based imaging company Vicom Systems for a paltry $2 million.

The Apple Watch repeatedly saves lives around the world, thanks to its health monitoring features and emergency functions.

Here’s a comprehensive roundup of some of the most notable ways Apple Watch has saved people’s lives. From fit teenagers with undiagnosed health problems to car crash victims in danger of drowning, Apple’s smartwatch helps people cheat death in remarkable ways.

April 24, 2015: The original Apple Watch launch means consumers, who endured a seven-month wait after the device’s unveiling at a keynote the previous September, can finally strap an Apple wearable onto their wrists.

Apple CEO Tim Cook describes the smartwatch as the “next chapter in Apple history.”  Behind the scenes, however, the first Apple Watch launch is a moment long in the making.

For the 10th anniversary of its launch, we compiled over a decade of Apple Watch history into a quick timeline. Starting with the original three collections — including models in solid 18 karat gold — all the way to today’s far more advanced (and sensible) Apple Watch Series 10 and Ultra 2.

The Apple Watch was the first major product introduction of Tim Cook’s reign as Apple CEO. There was immense pressure on Apple to prove that it could still innovate without Steve Jobs. While the Apple Watch wasn’t as flashy as the iPhone and iPad, it’s grown into an incredible business rife with breakthrough technology, in one of the most physically constrained form factors yet.

April 23, 2009: Less than a year after opening its virtual doors, the App Store reaches 1 billion downloads.

Peer-to-peer file sharing app Bump becomes the 1 billionth app to be downloaded. As a result of his purchase, 13-year-old Connor Mulcahey of Weston, Connecticut, wins a “1 Billion App Countdown” promotion.

He takes home an assortment of Apple products valued at more than $13,000, including a $10,000 iTunes gift card, a 32GB iPod touch, an Apple Time Capsule wireless router and a 17-inch MacBook Pro.

April 22, 2013: The world gets its first Apple car. Well, kind of. In reality, the iBeetle is a collaboration with German automaker Volkswagen that offers a car “stylistically linked” to Apple.

This means Apple-inspired colors, a built-in docking station for your iPhone, and a special app that lets you control the car’s features.

April 21, 1995: Rumors swirl that Japanese camera company Canon might take over Apple in either a partial or complete acquisition.

Speculation grows about a possible deal after Apple reveals its latest earnings, which show big improvement but still fall far short of Wall Street’s expectations.

April 20, 2010: A day after the most high-profile iPhone leak in history, tech news site Gizmodo dissects a prototype iPhone 4, then publishes the teardown — showing the world exactly what’s inside the soon-to-be-released device.

The iPhone 4 prototype, accidentally left in a bar by 27-year-old Apple software engineer Gray Powell, quickly becomes the biggest story in the tech world. And that’s where the trouble begins.

April 19, 1994: Gaston Bastiaens, the executive in charge of Apple’s revolutionary new Newton MessagePad product line, parts ways with the company.

“We can’t say whether he fell or was pushed,” says an Apple spokesman. Reports suggest that the departing Bastiaens, general manager of Apple’s personal interactive electronics division, is leaving due to his failure to make the Newton a financial success.

April 18, 1996: Apple unveils a massive $15 million promotional tie-in for the Mission: Impossible movie starring Tom Cruise.

Designed to promote the PowerBook, which Cruise uses in the spy flick, the marketing campaign comes at a particularly bad time. Attempting to climb back into the black after reporting its largest quarterly loss ever, Apple is in the middle of trying to perform its very own impossible mission. And that’s just the start of the problems.

April 17, 1977: The Apple II launch at the West Coast Computer Faire positions Apple at the forefront of the looming personal computer revolution.

The company’s first mass-market computer, the Apple II boasts an attractively machined case designed by Jerry Manock (who will later design the first Macintosh). It also packs a keyboard, BASIC compatibility and, most importantly, color graphics.

Fueled by some marketing savvy from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the Apple II launch makes quite a splash at the San Francisco Bay Area’s first personal computer convention.

April 16, 2009: Apple hits back at Microsoft following an advertisement that criticizes Cupertino for failing to sell decent laptops for less than $1,000.

“A PC is no bargain when it doesn’t do what you want,” Mac PR director Bill Evans tells Bloomberg. “The one thing that both Apple and Microsoft can agree on is that everyone thinks the Mac is cool. With its great designs and advanced software, nothing matches it at any price.”

April 15, 1981: Apple CEO Mike Markkula defends the struggling Apple III computer with a surprisingly straightforward admission. The comment comes even as the company pushes an unorthodox “fix” for the Apple III motherboard, which tends to overheat due to a questionable design.

“It would be dishonest for me to sit here and say that it’s perfect,” Markkula tells The Wall Street Journal, after critics blast the new computer for its overheating motherboard. Apple’s official solution to the problem? Ask users to drop their Apple III from a height of 6 inches to reseat the chips.

April 14, 1986: The “low-cost” Macintosh 512Ke brings hardware upgrades — and a bit of confusion — to the low end of the Mac lineup.

The Mac 512Ke is an “enhanced” (hence the “e”) model of the Mac 512K. The upgrade addresses complaints that the original Mac lacked enough memory. The 512Ke adds a double-density 800KB floppy drive and a 128KB ROM to the Mac 512K formula.

April 13, 2005: The tech world gets excited when a sketchy rumor suggests Apple is building a tablet computer.

The Chinese-language report claims Quanta will build a 15-inch touchscreen tablet PC with detachable keyboard. Apple will supposedly ship the device in the first quarter of 2006. Things don’t turn out quite like that, but the rumor offers the first hint about Apple’s secret iPad project.

April 12, 1976: Apple’s third co-founder, a former Atari colleague of Steve Wozniak’s named Ron Wayne, cashes in his Apple shares for just $800.

Wayne, who owns a 10% stake in the company, throws in the towel after worrying that he doesn’t have the time or energy to properly invest in Apple. He later receives an extra $1,500 check to seal the deal. When he cashes it, he loses out on an investment that could have been worth billions.

“I was 40 and these kids were in their 20s,” Wayne told Cult of Mac decades later, referring to Wozniak and Steve Jobs. “They were whirlwinds — it was like having a tiger by the tail. If I had stayed with Apple I probably would have wound up the richest man in the cemetery.”

April 11, 1976: Apple releases its first computer, the Apple-1.

Designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak, the computers are sold wholesale by “Steven” Jobs. To finance their manufacturing, Wozniak sells his HP-65 calculator for $500, while Jobs sells his Volkswagen van.

April 10, 1985: During a fateful meeting, Apple CEO John Sculley threatens to resign unless the company’s board of directors removes Steve Jobs as executive VP and general manager of the Macintosh division.

Sculley’s threat triggers a series of events that ultimately will result in Jobs’ exit. The marathon board meeting — which continues for several hours the next day — leads to Jobs losing his operating role within the company. However, the Apple board allows him to stay on as chairman. Things won’t exactly play out like that.

April 9, 2007: Apple sells its 100 millionth iPod. Coming just five-and-a-half years after the portable music player went on sale, the landmark event confirms the iPod as Apple’s most popular product of all time.

Until the iPhone arrives a couple months later, that is!