30 Years: The Very Best Of Apple

Today, we commemorate the passing of 30 years since the first Apple Macintosh computer was launched in 1984. We take you through five of Apple’s most iconic products in the last three decades …

The Apple website is in celebration mode. Rightly so. From the 1984 launch of their Macintosh, the company has gone from strength to strength. In 2013 , Apple Inc. declared a whopping $170 billion revenue.

Apple did not get here by mere accident. It paved its own path through ground-breaking technologies and innovations.

Let’s look at five of Apple’s very best, and market-defining, releases …

1. Macintosh 128

<Image courtesy Bill Bradford/Some rights reserved>

This was the one that defined Apple. The Macintosh entered the market at a point when barely anyone knew how to use a computer. And it changed things for the better.

It was user-friendly, it was easy-to-use, and it was moderately affordable. The Macintosh 128 put ‘personal’ in personal computing.

2. Macintosh Portable

<Image courtesy Ben Jones/Some rights reserved>

The Macintosh Portable was Apple’s first laptop. This battery-powered machine was devised to be a Macintosh that could be carried around. Little did we (or Apple) know that being ‘carried around’ would lead to the Macintosh Portable going to space on the Atlantis in 1991.

3. Newton MessagePad

<Image courtesy Bruno Cordioli/Some rights reserved>

Based on the Newton operating system, the MessagePad line was launched in 1993. It was considered to be well ahead of its time. This handheld computer would be the predecessor to the tablet that would take the world by storm two decades later – the iPad.

4. iPod

<Image courtesy Matthew Pearce/Some rights reserved>

Music players, in an era where the Walkman had faded and discmen were disappearing, were available in many shapes and forms. But few captured the mp3 market as strongly as Apple’s iPod. Combining sleek design with robust sound quality, it revolutionised the way we listened to music.

Thirteen years after the first generation of iPods was launched, it continues to dominate the music player market.

5. iPhone

<Image courtesy Carl Berkeley/Some rights reserved>

The iPhone, the first major commercially-successful touchscreen ‘smartphone’, was futuristic. It brought the power of the internet to your hands. It also brought email and internet access to the public arena, lessening the masses’ reliance on computers for internet.

Few technological innovations would be remembered as fondly as the iPhone first gen. Those who witnessed its launch will acknowledge that it redefined how our mobile phones worked.

What was your favourite Apple innovation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!