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Today in Apple history: ‘Here’s to the crazy ones’ who ‘think different’

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The Apple
Do you remember when Apple told you to think different?
Photo: Apple

September 28: Today in Apple history: Apple 'think different' television commercial says 'here's to the crazy ones' September 28, 1997: Apple debuts its iconic “Think Different” television commercial, aligning the troubled computer company with some of history’s most celebrated freethinking rebels.

The most famous tagline in Apple history, “Think Different” doesn’t just articulate how Cupertino differs from its competitors. It also highlights how Apple, under the leadership of CEO Steve Jobs, will forge a future far different from its floundering, money-losing days of the early 1990s.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs leaves and rejoins Apple

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Steve Jobs before and after, with maybe a little judgement about water sales.
Two significant days in Jobs' career took place on this day.
Photo: Fulvio Obregon

September 16: Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs leaves and rejoins Apple September 16, 1985 and 1997: Twice on this day, Steve Jobs makes significant moves with regard to his career at Apple. In 1985, he quits the company he co-founded. Then, a little more than a decade later, he officially rejoins Apple as its new interim CEO.

In terms of the emotions associated with those historic occasions, it’s hard to think of two more polarizing days in Jobs’ life.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs returns following liver transplant

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Why Salesforce chief gave up AppStore.com for Apple
September 9 marked the start of Steve Jobs' final run at Apple.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

September 9: Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs returns to Apple following liver transplant September 9, 2009: Steve Jobs makes his public return to Apple after successful liver-transplant surgery.

Appearing onstage at Apple’s fall event, Jobs receives a standing ovation that lasts almost a minute. He then opens the keynote on an unusually personal note by discussing his health.

Today in Apple history: iTunes Music Store hits 10 million downloads

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Avril Lavigne's
Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" becomes the 10 millionth iTunes song download.
Photo: Avril Lavigne

August 8: Today in Apple history: iTunes Store hits 10 million music downloads September 8, 2003: Apple reveals that the iTunes Music Store recently sold its 10 millionth song download. The tune in question? Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated.”

Come to think of it, “You fall and you crawl and you break and you take what you get and you turn it into [success]” describes Apple pretty well in the late ’90s and early 2000s.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs unveils Rokr E1, the first iTunes phone

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The Motorola Rokr E1 was Apple's doomed
The iPhone's terrible ancestor proved disastrous from Day 1.
Photo: Apple

September 7: Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs unveils Rokr E1, the first iTunes phone September 7, 2005: Apple and Motorola launch the Rokr E1, the first Cupertino-sanctioned cellphone to run iTunes.

Even the high-profile demo goes wrong, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs is very unhappy with the results. The compromised device shows what an error it is to let an outside designer create a phone under the Apple banner. The company won’t make the same mistake twice.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs prepares to take on Apple

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Apple-at-40-What-Steve-Jobs-Said-About-Computers-in-1981
1985 was a major turning point in Jobs' life.
Photo: ABC

2 September Today in Apple history September 2, 1985: Reports claim Steve Jobs is on the verge of setting up his own company to compete with Apple. The rumors fly after Jobs sells Apple stock holdings worth $21.43 million.

For anyone who thinks speculation about Apple’s future is an invention of the blog era, today’s “Today in Apple history” is a reminder that the tech rumor mill was alive and well in 1985.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs gets embroiled in stock-backdating scandal

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Steve Jobs-inspired art
Steve Jobs' stock demands changed some people's view of the tech innovator.
Photo: Jason Mercier

August 29: Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs gets embroiled in Apple stock-backdating scandal August 29, 2001: During a meeting, Apple’s board of directors awards Steve Jobs new stock options that will become part of a stock-backdating scandal several years later.

When the matter eventually ends up in court, Apple’s former general counsel pays $2.2 million to settle charges that she backdated stock options for Jobs, herself and others — and created fake paperwork to hide this fact.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates talk ‘future of the PC’

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In a rare joint interview, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates trade barbs and debate the
In a rare joint interview from 1991, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates discuss the "future of the PC" in Forbes magazine.
Photo: Cult of Mac (stock image from Reviewsapex)

August 26: Today in Apple historyAugust 26, 1991: In their first joint interview, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates trade barbs and debate “the future of the PC” in Fortune magazine.

The spirited discussion marks 10 years since the first IBM PC shipped. The piece also looks at what the future holds for both men — described as the former “boy wonders of computing, now thirtysomething.”

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO

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Why Salesforce chief gave up AppStore.com for Apple
Steve Jobs' health wouldn't allow him to continue as CEO.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

August 24: Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO August 24, 2011: With his health worsening, a cancer-stricken Steve Jobs steps down from his role leading Apple. Tim Cook assumes the role of Apple’s seventh CEO.

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” Jobs writes in his retirement letter to the Apple board. “Unfortunately that day has come.”