June 27, 1997: The last day of another disappointing quarter brings an end to CEO Gil Amelio’s 500 days running Apple.
The $56 million quarterly loss contributes to an overall deficit of $1.6 billion during Amelio’s reign. The slump effectively wipes out every cent of profit Cupertino earned since fiscal 1991. After losing money for six out of the last seven quarters, Apple seems past the point of no return.
June 26, 2008: A year after the first iPhone was released, Apple sends an email to developers calling for smartphone software to be distributed in the forthcoming App Store.
Coders around the world greet the news with excitement. They hurry to submit their iPhone apps and get in on the looming App Store gold rush. Many rake in small fortunes when the App Store goes live less than a month later.
June 23, 2003: Apple launches its gorgeous Power Mac G5, a powerhouse desktop computer with a perforated aluminum chassis that earns it the affectionate nickname “the cheese grater.”
Starting at an affordable $1,999 (over $3,600 in today’s money, adjusted for inflation), the Power Mac G5 is the world’s first 64-bit personal computer. It’s also Apple’s fastest machine yet.
June 22, 2009: Apple CEO Steve Jobs returns to work, a couple of months after undergoing a liver transplant as part of his treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Although Jobs has been steadily getting back into work for the past several weeks, the news is made official when a quote from him appears on a June 22 press release about iPhone 3GS sales. An Apple employee also alerts the media after spotting Jobs on campus.
With his return confirmed, everyone wants to know how long Jobs will continue to lead Apple.
June 21, 2010: Apple releases iOS 4, which introduces a range of productivity features as well as the FaceTime videotelephony service. The iOS 4 launch represents a big step forward for Apple’s flourishing mobile devices.
Due to the arrival of the first-gen iPad earlier in the year, iOS 4 also brings a transition from the mobile operating system’s original name, “iPhone OS.”
June 16, 2010: Apple reports a massive surge of interest in its latest smartphone, with iPhone 4 preorders racking up 600,000 sales on their first day.
The company calls the number “far higher” than expected. At the time, it’s the most iPhone preorders Apple has ever taken in a single day. AT&T suffers server problems thanks to the demand — with 10 times the usual traffic on its website. It’s proof positive that Apple is onto a winner!
June 12, 2005: Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivers a brilliant commencement speech to graduating students at Stanford University.
Packed with incredible insights, the motivational speech includes many memorable lines that capture the essence of Jobs’ incredible life — and provide a template for success through following your passions. And he does it all in less than 15 minutes.
Apple has resisted putting a touchscreen on its laptops for years. But one of the most credible voices in the Apple supply chain rumor space declared that resistance officially over on Thursday. The long-rumored touchscreen MacBook is “100% confirmed,” they said.
June 11, 2007: At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, CEO Steve Jobs unveils Safari 3 for Windows, bringing the company’s web browser to PCs for the first time.
Apple pitches Safari as the world’s fastest and easiest-to-use web browser, capable of rendering web pages up to twice as fast as Internet Explorer and 1.6 times faster than Firefox.
“We think Windows users are going to be really impressed when they see how fast and intuitive web browsing can be with Safari,” Jobs says in a press release announcing the launch. “Hundreds of millions of Windows users already use iTunes, and we look forward to turning them on to Safari’s superior browsing experience too.”
June 10, 1977: Apple Computer Inc. ships its first Apple II computer.
A hulking beige behemoth with 4KB of RAM (upgradeable to a whopping 48KB), the Apple II is the computer that will define Apple for a generation of fans. Retailing at $1,298, it cost the equivalent of a handful of MacBook Pros today — even though it seemed a total bargain at the time.
June 9, 2002: Apple launches its “Switch” advertising campaign, featuring real people talking about their reasons for switching from PCs to Macs. Apple’s biggest marketing effort since the “Think different” ad campaign a few years earlier, one “Switch” ad in particular turns a 15-year-old high-school student named Ellen Feiss into an unlikely star.
She becomes a viral sensation after viewers suggest she was stoned while filming her sleepy-eyed “Switch” spot about a homework-devouring PC.
June 4, 1997: Mac clone-maker Power Computing hits its high point as the company’s top exec reaches an agreement with Apple concerning the forthcoming Mac OS 8.
The deal allows the company to start making moves toward an IPO as the fastest-growing PC company of the decade. Things don’t turn out well, though.
May 28, 2010: Customers across Europe and Asia queue up to buy the iPad when the international launch date for Apple’s original tablet finally arrives.
The reason for the gap between the iPad’s U.S. launch in early April and its international debut more than a month later? Unexpectedly strong demand for the groundbreaking device.
May 27, 1986: An exiled Steve Jobs takes a shot at Apple after the company ditches Chiat/Day, the ad agency that created the iconic “1984” Macintosh ad.
In a full-page ad published in The Wall Street Journal, Jobs says the move to competing ad agency BBDO shows that “caretakers,” rather than “builders,” now run Apple.
From his perspective, it confirms that the company he co-founded has lost its revolutionary spirit.
May 26, 2010: In a massive milestone, Apple passes Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable technology company for the first time.
The changing of the guard proves particularly amazing given that, just 15 years earlier, Apple looked close to dead, while Microsoft dominated the tech world thanks to Windows 95.
May 25, 2010: Apple opens an investigation into a string of suicides at Foxconn, its Chinese manufacturing partner for assembling iPhones.
After reports of a ninth death at a Foxconn factory, Apple says it is “independently evaluating” Foxconn’s response. Cupertino vows to take a long, hard look at the facilities that manufacture its products. It’s a tough challenge for Apple to deal with — and CEO Steve Jobs’ controversial comments don’t exactly help.
May 23, 1985: Bitter about being ousted from his position running the Macintosh division, Steve Jobs attempts to stage a boardroom coup to seize control of Apple from CEO John Sculley.
The 30-year-old Apple co-founder plans to overthrow Sculley while the CEO is away on a business trip in China. Unfortunately for Jobs, he makes a critical mistake when he tries to recruit the support of Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée, who informs Sculley of the plot.
It’s the beginning of the end for Jobs’ first tenure at Apple.
May 22, 1997: Apple spins off its Newton division, creating an independent company to manage the line of personal digital assistants. Newton Inc.’s first job? Selling the MessagePad 2000 PDA, the best Newton device yet.
But Apple also gave Newton Inc. a mandate to develop new technologies and market existing ones.
“We have a solid business plan and a strong management team in place to optimize the value of Newton technology for corporate users and take Newton technology into a new era,” says Sandy Benett, former vice president of Apple’s Newton Systems Group and chief operating officer of the new venture.
Instead, it turns out to be the beginning of the end for the ahead-of-its-time Apple PDA.
★★★★★
Steve Jobs in Exile by Geoffrey Cain serves up a comprehensive history of that other computer company Steve Jobs founded, NeXT.
The book, released Tuesday, starts in 1985 with Steve Jobs being forced out of Apple. It tells the tumultuous tale of what happens after Jobs poaches five Apple employees, they all gather in his bare living room, and ask, “Well … now what?”
Starting fresh at just the right moment in history, they invented the computer architecture of the modern era with a powerful UNIX foundation, object-oriented programming and emerging web technologies. It’s an intensely frustrating tale of Jobs blowing chances at success left and right, letting perfection be the enemy of the good.
Pair this book with Apple: The First 50 Years and you have the complete picture. It’s a shorter read that covers fascinating years where Steve grew up as a leader.
May 19, 2001: Apple revolutionizes the world of computer shopping when it opens its first two Apple Stores. Located in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and Glendale, California, the new outlets represent the culmination of a long-term dream for Cupertino.
It’s the start of something massive. Within two and a half decades, Apple will expand its retail operations to more than 500 stores in 27 countries and regions around the world. And they will become some of the most profitable retail outlets anywhere on a dollars-per-square-foot basis.
May 17, 1983: John Sculley takes the helm as Apple’s third president and CEO. The former Pepsi-Cola boss is short on tech experience but long on marketing, which will become increasingly important as the personal computer revolution ramps up.
Steve Jobs personally lured Sculley to Apple using one of the most famous lines in the history of business. “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water,” Jobs asked Sculley, “or do you want a chance to change the world?”
May 15, 2001: Apple CEO Steve Jobs flips the script on the dreadful experience of computer shopping, unveiling an ambitious plan to open 25 innovative Apple stores across the United States. The first ones, located at Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia, and the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California, are set to open later that week.
However, this new Apple initiative is about much more than just a couple of retail outlets. It’s a radical reinvention of tech retail that will change the way computers get sold.
May 14, 1992: Apple co-founder Steve Jobs‘ company NeXT runs into trouble as it loses a crucial deal with Businessland after the computer retailer closes its stores.
It comes at a time when NeXT’s luck is going from bad to worse. The Businessland closure marks one of the lowest points in Jobs’ career — before everything starts to turn around again.
Apple fans and coin collectors snatched up a new tribute to Steve Jobs on Tuesday. As part of its ongoing American Innovation $1 Coin Program, the United States Mint put the Steve Jobs coin up for sale at 9 a.m. Pacific time this morning — and it sold out almost instantly.
The coin honors the late Apple co-founder and his impact on technology and culture, celebrating one of the most influential figures in technology history. But the image of Jobs is somewhat questionable.
May 12, 2005: Longtime Apple frenemy Bill Gates tells a German newspaper that Apple may have hit it big with the iPod, but that its success isn’t going to last forever.
The reason for the Microsoft co-founder’s doomy take on the iPod’s future? He thinks mobile phones will steal the music player’s market share.
The good news for Gates is that he was right on the money. The bad news for Microsoft is that Apple cannibalized itself by making the iPhone. And Apple’s smartphone became even more successful than the iPod.
