steve jobs: 10 steps
from a garage to the world’s largest company
(step 1) Apple was established on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66.
(step 2) Jobs and several Apple employees, including Jef Raskin, visited Xerox PARC in December 1979 to see the Xerox Alto. Jobs was immediately convinced that all future computers would use a graphical user interface (GUI). Its debut was announced by the now famous $1.5 million television commercial “1984". It was directed by Ridley Scott and first aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984.[34] The commercial is now hailed as a watershed event for Apple’s success[35] and a “masterpiece”.
(step 3) After numerous failed attempts to improve Mac OS Amelio chose to purchase NeXT and its NeXTSTEP operating system and bring Steve Jobs back to Apple as an advisor. On July 9, 1997, Amelio was ousted by the board of directors after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses.
(step 4) At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Jobs announced that Apple would join Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office for the Macintosh, and that Microsoft had made a $150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock.
(step 5) Jobs acted as the interim CEO and began restructuring the company’s product line; it was during this period that Jobs identified Jonathan Ive’s design talent. On August 15, 1998, Apple introduced a new all-in-one computer reminiscent of the Macintosh 128K: the iMac. The iMac design team was led by Ive, who would later design the iPod and the iPhone.
(step 6) On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores in Virginia and California.
(step 7) On October 23 of the same year, Apple debuted the iPod portable digital audio player. The product, which was first sold on November 10, 2001, was phenomenally successful with over 100 million units sold within six years.
(step 8) In 2003, Apple’s iTunes Store was introduced. The service offered online music downloads for $0.99 a song and integration with the iPod. The iTunes store quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5B downloads by June 19, 2008.
(steps 9–10) During his keynote speech at the Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced iPhone and the Apple TV. The following day, Apple shares hit $97.80, an all-time high at that point. In May, Apple’s share price passed the $100 mark. Apple announced a large screen, tablet-like media device known as the iPad on January 27, 2010.
