图说苹果电脑25年编辑本段回目录
苹果电脑为人类带来了全新的“个人电脑”的概念，它在过去20年的成长经历，即是PC业的风雨兼程的历史写照。
“用鼠标操纵的图形用户界面，通用的硬件标准，仍在不断发展的多媒体技术，以及超酷的外形”，这些让人痴迷的特色成了苹果电脑代名词。毫无疑问，苹果电脑的出现和发展，很大程度上决定了早期“个人电脑”的发展变化；当然，PC业革命式的发展也导致了 苹果电脑的兴衰成败。
谁移动了鼠标？
沃恩·莱伯恩曾在1978年至1982年参与微软公司的产品开发，后来又在Lotus和赛门铁克公司担任执行官，他亲身经历了苹果电脑的发展的初期阶段。
莱伯恩以及从那个时代走过来的人们指出，苹果电脑的CEO史蒂夫·乔布斯把许多有价值的发明，转化到实际应用领域，例如“图形界面、激光打印机、鼠标，甚至包括从施乐公司‘抄袭’过来的图标”。
如果把上述发明都归功于苹果公司，可能会引起争议，但无可否认的是，正是苹果电脑特别看重这些发明，并把它们推向了市场。
“苹果电脑对PC的两大贡献是：图形界面和用鼠标操纵电脑。”IT业的老将吉姆·本杰明说，“在那之前，PC操作完全是基于文字界面的。”
印刷业的新生
不仅如此，苹果电脑最早引入了“桌面排版系统”和“多媒体计算”的概念，让人类摆脱了“事件驱动”和“菜单控制”的初级阶段。
“桌面排版系统”的发明，使得印刷业获得了新生，这是苹果电脑的辉煌贡献之一。约翰·斯卡尔参与了该发明诞生的全过程，他回忆说：
“1995年中期，我被任命开发激光打印机的发展潜能。我们找到了最优秀的程序员，通过不懈努力终于开发出了革命性的软件产品，即PageMaker。该软件首先应用于苹果电脑中，然后才有Windows版。后来，Adobe公司买下了PageMaker的版权。”
“当它问世时，人们对它并不感兴趣。”斯卡尔回忆当时的情景说，“这是极具创意的发明，它可能给苹果电脑带来很多发展机遇。但是，柯达公司当时认为它不过是个‘玩具’。”
无意中成就了微软
许多IT业老臣们都认为，苹果电脑图形交互界面的应用，深深刺激了微软公司，甚至在某种程度帮助微软完成了今天的霸业。
在1984年，众多软件公司决定支持苹果电脑的图形界面，但是只有微软公司在这方面付出的努力最多。微软公司为苹果电脑量向打造了最早的“电子表格Excel”以及字处理软件Word；此外，微软还在苹果电脑平台上开发过Multiplan、File等软件。
“苹果电脑的许多发明，成就了微软公司的辉煌业绩。”莱伯恩说，“微软统治当今软件业的根本原因，并不完全是Windows产品，而是它致力于开发图形界面的坚定决心——尽管苹果电脑的起步更早。”
微软公司对上述观点不置可否，但是我们仍可以看出该公司对苹果电脑的尊重：“苹果人的发明创新精神有目共睹。当初我们开发Excel软件时，只是为了改变人们的工作方式，但是我们并没有预料到后来它的发展成就（如此惊人）。”
苹果的成长
苹果电脑的发展过程中，并非仅仅强调“特色”，更注意实际的商业价值，例如3.5寸硬盘和网络的引入，改变了电脑的运算模式。
“苹果电脑开始使用3.5寸硬盘之后，这种电脑构架模式才逐渐流行起来。”LapLink公司的创始人马克·爱普雷称，“苹果电脑也是网络概念的早期倡导者之一。”
菲利普·卡恩曾是苹果电脑的一名开发工程师，后来担任了宝兰软件公司（Borland）的CEO，目前在一家无线产品开发公司担任CEO。
卡恩评价说：“苹果电脑教给PC业如何打造简单易用、稳定可靠的电脑；PC业也让苹果电脑学会如何制造‘人人都买得起的电脑’。”
难忘1984
巴巴拉·克洛兹在1984年曾经担任苹果公司的公关经理，他为苹果电脑写下最早也是最有的名宣传标语：“我们的电脑为普通人打造。”
“苹果电脑向PC业界传达了这样一个信号：电脑是为了满足普通人的需要，而不是纯粹的科学计算。”克洛兹说，“那时许多复杂的东西，在今天看来非常简单，这是电脑平民化的结果。”
苹果电脑最早的开发人员们，互相鼓励称“我们正在从事改变世界的工作”，那种近似宗教狂热的工作精神，彻底改变了电脑行业的传统模式。
正是在1984年，苹果电脑通过在“美国职业棒球联盟杯”上做广告，使得它变得家喻户晓。这种创新之举，甚至影响了美国广告界的思维模式：当年苹果电脑发布广告的体育场，现成已经成为新产品上市的热门竞技场。
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1984: Steven Jobs, chairman of the board of Apple Computer, leaning on the new "Macintosh" personal computer. It had a 7.83MHz processor, 9" monochrome screen, one floppy disk and no hard drive. Priced at $1,995 to $2,495, it was intended to challenge IBM for the business personal computer market
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1984: Thousands of Apple Macintosh computers sit on double decked manufacturing lines for their 48 hour "burn in" in Freemont, California. 50,000 were sold in quick order – but sales then slowed
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23 January 1984: the Apple Macintosh was unveiled in Cupertino, California at Apple's shareholder meeting.
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1984: Drexel University President William Hagerty, left, talks with chemistry Professor Allan Smith after the Institution helped unveil Apple Computer's new Macintosh in Philadelphia. The Macintosh was to be the mandatory "electronic workhorse" for the school
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1986: David Bonilla (left) and Albert McFarland use word processing and graphics software on Macintoshes at the Creative Arts Computer Lab at San Francisco State University to block and plan a video shoot
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1987: John Sculley, chaiman of Apple Computer Inc., shows off the new Macintosh II computer at news conference in Los Angeles. Two new computers – the Macintosh II and Macintosh SE – were introduced, and were the first sold by Apple able to run programs written for IBM-type personal computers.
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1994: Apple's PowerBook Duo presages its descendants, with a large space to rest your hands. The round "trackball" was later dropped in favour of a simple "trackpad".
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1995: Steve Kahng, President and CEO of Power Computing stands behind his company's versions of the Apple Macintosh Computer. Apple licensed its operating system to "clone makers" – who offered cheaper, faster version of products, which quickly destroyed profits at Apple. On returning to the company in 1997, Steve Jobs tore up the contracts, returning Apple to profitability.
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1997: with Gil Amelio still in charge, but with Steve Jobs building allies on the board, Apple releases the $1,800 Power Macintosh 6500 series to succeed its slow-selling Performa line.
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1998: the iMac, the computer that brought Apple back from the near-dead. Designed by Jonathan Ive and championed by Steve Jobs, it had a built-in monitor
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April 2002: Apple introduces the eMac, a desktop line designed specifically for education, featuring a 17-inch flat CRT and a 700 MHz PowerPC G4 processor. It is killed off in July 2006.
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2000: Steve Jobs poses with the new Power Mac G4 Cube after his keynote address at the Macworld Conference. The Cube – echoing the NeXT computer of Jobs's previous company – turned out to be a rare flop. Designed to be silent and fanless, with no visible switches, it never quite captured its intended "prosumer" market due to lack of expandability and cost. Some of the 8in-cube machines developed cracks; the product was dropped in July 2001.
http://www.enet.com.cn/article/2001/0710/A20010710035491.shtml）；该产品在2001年7月被取消。
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January 2001: Apple's first Titanium G4 PowerBook wowed the crowds when unveiled by Jobs at Macworld. It turned out to be a design classic, although some noted that its wireless reception was attenuated by the metal enclosure. The basic design of a metallic shell for the top-end "pro" laptops remains in use eight years later.
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January 2002: The new iMac, unveiled at Macworld, was dubbed the "lampstand". Its 15-inch LCD flat screen was on an armature, with a 700 MHz or 800 MHz PowerPC G4 processor and SuperDrive for playing and burning CDs and DVDs. Rumours ahead of the unveiling had expected a flat-screen, all-in-one model; but Jobs said he had told Jonathan Ive, who had struggled with such a design, that each element should be "true to itself". The all-in-one design had to wait for slimmer DVD burners.
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August 2004: the iMac goes flat. Unveiled by Phil Schiller in Paris, the idea of a flatscreen, slimline computer is finally realised.
