An economic crisis can be a crucible that forges new innovations in business operations or they can lead companies to make dumb mistakes that destroy them as they rush blindly to survive. We’re beginning to see corporations move into one camp or the other as the economic downturn gets worse and worse but one company one company stands out for forging ahead on innovation: Apple Computers. Apple’s innovation in their new product introduction leads the way and shows how product innovation can deliver superior economic return to a company and its shareholder.
Apple Computers Inc. was co-founded by Steve Woznaik and Steve Jobs (known as the “two Steves”). Both of them shared a common idea of assembling a machine and subsequently selling it. In 1976, they introduced the world the first PC and they called it Apple I. A California-based local computer store, Byte Shop got interested in the machine and gave Jobs and Woznaik an order of 50 computers each at $500 on delivery. While the parts were ordered from Cramer electronics, an electronics parts distributor, Jobs and Woznaik worked days and nights to assemble the parts. This is how Apple I came into being.
Apple I had a sound design, a philosophy that Apple still maintains today. Apple I had a monitor, unlike any other computers of that age, and it used a bootstrap code on the Read Only Memory (ROM) to speed the computer startup. In addition the machine also had a cassette interface for storing and saving programs. Eventually, two hundred Apple Is were built.
With the profits earned from the sales of Apple I, Wozinaik conceived an upgraded model, the Apple II. It was notably different from Apple I. They were: (a) a completely redesigned TV interface, which in addition to text, also displayed graphics, and colors; ( ...