Week 3 Lecture: A Brief History of Computing and the Internet

Apple Inc. is the company that has revolutionized the world of computing technology. It is famous for it's product lines such as the iPods, iPhones, Macintosh computers, and most recently the iPad. As of 2011, the annual revenue for Apple Inc. is over $100 billion, and it is the largest technology firm in the world (Dernbach 2011). So how did it become so successful?

Before Apple came into existence, IBM had produced the first commercial computers in the 1950's; large, expensive and unwieldily machines for military, government and corporate work. Computers were not exposed to the public until the Xerox PARC released the Altair 8800 in 1975; still a highly dysfunctional computer that was only adopted by tech-savvy hobbyists with a large degree of commitment (Stockwell 2012). At this stage, co-founders of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, created the first Apple computer in 1976 in their garage. Their dream was to create and sell the first self-contained PC for people who weren't tech-savvy, and that they most certainly did. After the production of the Apple II in 1978, dealers and distributors were marveled at the design and engineering of what would soon skyrocket and encapture 50% of the consumer market share (Stockwell 2012). Since then, Apple went through a rocky period in the market when Steve Jobs left the company in 1985 to start his own, but since his return in 1996, and his brilliant adaption of his own invented software into the technology, Apple has been an unstoppable force within the market because of it's sheer innovation, brilliance, and ease of use.

So are we to thank Steve Jobs for all these advances in technology? Or was there bound to be another creative genius around the corner? Steve Wolfram, founder of and CEO of Wolfram research in America, alludes to the idea that we are to thank Jobs for where technology is; “At the high end of innovative human achievement, the details never repeat; that’s what defines the innovation”. However, he goes on to state “that in at least a fair fraction of civilizations, people with these attributes will occasionally emerge,” suggesting that every once in a while, another Jobs will rise up and change the course of technology advancement (as cited in Van Grove 2011). Personally, I can't wait to see what is in store for civilization next...

References

Dernbach, C 2011, Mac History, viewed 4 September 2012, <http://www.mac-history.net/computer-history/2011-01-24/the-history-of-the-apple-macintosh>

Stockwell, S 2012, A Brief History of Computing and the Internet, Griffith University Lecture, unpublished

Van Grove, J 2011, Will There Ever Be Another Steve Jobs?, viewed 6 September 2012, <http://mashable.com/2011/10/08/another-steve-jobs/>