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Apple Releases QuickTime
December 2, 1991 Apple releases version 1.0 of QuickTime, a multimedia extension for playing color video, transforming the capabilities of personal computers. Before QuickTime, only specialized computers could play color video. QuickTime allowed anyone with a personal computer to do so and it changed the history of computing – in more ways than one. It…
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Apple Introduces PowerBook
October 21, 1991 At the COMDEX computer expo in Las Vegas, Apple introduces the first line of PowerBook notebook computers, the PowerBook 100, PowerBook 140, and PowerBook 170. The first truly portable Macintosh, the PowerBook line redefined portable computing and set the bar for future laptop designs. For example, the PowerBooks were the first laptop…
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Apple Asks Us to Think Different
September 28, 1997 Just a little over two weeks after naming Steve Jobs interim CEO, Apple launches their “Think Different” ad campaign. Designed to reintroduce the Apple brand, the campaign was nearly universally praised by the press, general public, and advertising industry, winning several awards along the way. Looking back in context, Think Different was…
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Steve Jobs Named Interim CEO of Apple
September 16, 1997 Twelve years to the day after resigning from Apple, Steve Jobs is named Interim CEO of Apple. Only seven months earlier, Jobs’ company NeXT was purchased by Apple and just two months earlier Gil Amelio resigned as Apple CEO. Much of the technology acquired with the purchase of NeXT was used to build…
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The Last Apple II
September 15, 1986 Apple introduces the Apple IIgs, the last major product release in the Apple II series of personal computers. Blending the older Apple II series computers with aspects from the Macintosh computer, the advanced “graphics and sound” capabilities of the IIgs (hence the name) was ahead of other contemporary computers such as the…
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Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO
August 24, 2011 I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. – Steve Jobs Apple CEO Steve Jobs resigns amid rumors of failing health. Jobs passed…
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Apple and Microsoft Call Truce
August 6, 1997 At the Macworld Expo in Boston, Steve Jobs announces that Apple and Microsoft have signed a five-year alliance. Bill Gates famously makes his seemingly ominous “big brother” appearance on the large presentation screen during the announcement. As part of the deal, Microsoft committed to continuing development of Microsoft Office for Mac over…
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Apple Introduces the Newton
August 3, 1993 Apple introduces the Newton MessagePad, one of the world’s first Personal Digital Assistants (PDA). The term PDA was first used by Apple CEO John Scully in 1992. While a commercial failure, the Newton platform set the bar for future PDA designs. But perhaps the most important advancement the Newton offered to the…
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Apple Lisa is Born
July 30, 1979 Apple begins work on the Lisa, which would become the world’s first commercial computer with a graphical user interface. Originally intended to sell for $ 2,000 and ship in 1981, the Lisa is delayed until 1983 and sells for $ 10,000. Utilizing technology that is ahead of its time, the high cost,…
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Apple Introduces iBook Laptop
July 21, 1999 Apple introduces the iBook laptop, the first mainstream computer designed and sold with built-in wireless networking. Apple Introduces iBook Laptop is original content of This Day in Tech History. This Day in Tech History Tech History provided by This Day in Tech History.com