About Apple
Apple is a company relatively well known even outside the technology world. Every aspiring tech blogger has to write few blog posts covering Apple company and its products. After all, Apple is considered one of the best global brands even today. Therefore, it is not a surprise that the company continues to surprise many with its innovative technological solutions. In addition, the Internet is full of surprising facts about Apple. What are those surprising facts?
Wikipedia writes that Apple was founded as Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976, to produce and market Steve Wozniak's Apple I personal computer. Later Jobs and Wozniak incorporated the company on January 3, 1977, in Cupertino, California. As it usually happens the founders most likely never thought too much about the timing - they just simply picked the first days of the months. Now looking back the first date, namely April 1, 1976, looks like a serious joke - starting a company on the April Fools’ Day should be considered as the best practice for every tech entrepreneur contemplating to reach some success in the future.
In the early days Wozniak had tinkered with “blue boxes” - devices for long distance calls. Jobs managed to sell quite few of those boxes splitting the profit with his co-founder. The more interesting aspect was the testing and quality assurance methodology for the devices - Wozniak would call the Vatican City pretending to be Henry Kissinger wanting to speak to the pope. Years later the tradition to test the alertness, security systems of major world institutions and corporations is still alive. The Vatican City may have lost its popularity but NASA is constantly on the target by young and old computer enthusiasts.
It is well known that the name “Apple Computer” has not relation to the Bible and is due to Steve Jobs who liked... apples. According to Wozniak Jobs proposed the name “Apple Computer” when he had just come back from Robert Friedland's All-One Farm in Oregon. Steve Jobs thought this name “sounded fun, spirited and not intimidating ... plus, it would get us ahead of Atari in the phone book". The competition aspect was at the very beginning of Apple and Atari, Inc was one important computer makers at that time.
In order to introduce a new Apple Macintosh personal computer (the first personal computer to have a graphical user interface and a mouse) the company prepared 1984 - a television commercial directed by Ridley Scott. The commercial was later considered as the turning point for Apple’s success.
However, the company’s Board of Directors did not liked it to the extent that it was decided to sell the initially purchased ad time for the Super Bowl, the most-watched television program in the US. Steve Wozniak even offered to pay for half of the ad time spot personally if Jobs paid the other half, which turned out to be unnecessary. In 2003 the ad received the Hall of Fame Award by World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) - the global association for multinational marketers and national advertiser associations.
Apple has also left a mark in the supper-computing segment with what is known as System X or Big Mac. The supercomputer assembled by Virginia Tech's Advanced Research Computing facility in the summer of 2003. Costing US$5.2 million, it was originally composed of 1,100 Apple Power Mac G5 computers with dual 2.0 GHz processors making it one of the most cost-effective supercomputers at the time. At its peak, System X achieved a performance of 12.25 teraflops, making it one of the fastest supercomputers globally when it was introduced in 2003. System X provided a valuable resource for students and faculty, offering hands-on experience with high-performance computing. The supercomputer enabled Virginia Tech to conduct advanced computational research across various fields, including physics, chemistry, and engineering.
In 1986, Apple released an apparel line called “The Apple Collection”. Although it wasn’t a runaway success initially, the vintage clothing has become cool over time. The collection featured neon graphic prints, popped polo collars, athletic wear, and dad caps – all quintessential 80s attire. Accessories like beach towels, coffee mugs, watches, and even a windsail were part of the debut offering. Although not very active in the fashion industry lately Apple keeps the tradition by partnering with Hermès. This collaboration resulted in the Apple Watch Hermès collection. It features luxurious textiles in vibrant colors, including bands made from materials like mesh, rubber, and even a knitted band inspired by Hermès gloves from the 1930.
Apple has a policy regarding computers exposed to smoke. If a Mac computer has been in a smoking environment, even those covered under Apple’s extended warranty program, the warranty may be voided. For instance, a mid-2007 MacBook was denied warranty coverage because it was used in a smoking household. Another case involved an Apple computer deemed “contaminated” by tobacco smoke and considered as “hazardous”. Apple cited health risks for employees working on such machines.