The story of Apple

On the fourth of June, the organization that looks after the standardization of the IEE 1394, decided to equip the logos and name of Apple to the standard Firewire. USB2 arrived at the same time and promised higher transfer rates then their opposition. This meant that Apple started to work on their Firewire2 to combat this opposition...

The eMac is (finally) distributed to the general public 6 days later. The iBook is also updated and gains an extra 100MHz in speed.

On the 10^th of June, Apple launches the great “Switch!” campaign. This campaign presented people (unknowns at first and celebrities later) who have changed from the PC to a Mac explaining why they did so.

Apple asks people to leave their stories on their web site (it received a lot) and selected the best. The campaign was displayed on TV, in magazines and on the Apple website, where a “Switch” tab was added. “Switcher” becomes common speak thanks to the campaign for users to say the have “changed from a PC to a Mac”.

This campaign is parodied numerous times on the internet. Here is our favorite:

On the 15^th of July, Apple launches Quicktime 6. In the first day, one million download will be completed.

Two days later the MacWorld in New York would start. 50 000 visiters will pass through the doors. This MacWorld contained nothing really exciting: an update of the iPod (a 20 GB model makes it appearance and the 5 and 10 GB models prices are reduced), Windows compatibility (until then, the iPods only worked on the Mac!) and the presentation of a new iMac 17 inch screen.

Next to this software, Apple presented MacOS 10.2 alias Jaguar, which integrated the Meeting software (since renamed Hello), iCal (Mac integrated  calendar), iChat (instant messenger compatible with AIM) and iSynch (to synchronise you files with mobile devices).

iTunes and Sherlock both moved onto Version 3 (Sherlock is an Internet search software).

These new features were released on the 13^th of August. Apple finally presented the new Powermacs that integrated the latest technologies: 333 MHz DDR memory, twin processors from 867 to 1.25 GHz and the ATI Radeon 9000 pro viveo card. However, the performance was slightly disappointing from what was expected…

10 days later, Jaguar is made available to the general public and sells at an amazing pace: 100 000 versions sold in the first 48 days. It is missing the iCal software from it but is offered freely as an update in September...

October rolls around, after a calm September and the Paris Apple Expo that was dull, Apple announces that the latest version of Quicktime has been downloaded more then 26 million times. The iBooks and Powerbooks price starts to fall and sales start to rise.