Apple Inc.
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
- For Apple Corps, an unrelated company, please see Apple Corps.
Apple is an American company that makes computer hardware, computer software, and portable devices like mobile telephones and music players. Their computer products are named "Macintosh". They also sell a popular line of mobile music players named "iPod" and has begun selling the "iPhone", an advanced smartphone with built-in wireless internet.
Unlike most personal computer companies, which sell products made to run Microsoft Windows or Linux, Apple's computer hardware runs software designed to only run on their products, usually with an operating system they have written for their products called Mac OS X. Some people think this way of making software and hardware together make Apple products easier to use and more reliable.
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[change] 1970s
Apple was formed in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Before they made the company they sold "blue boxes", which had telephone buttons on them. People could use them to make telephone calls from pay phones without paying any money. The company's first product is now called the Apple I computer. They were almost ready to sell it, but a problem happened. Steve Wozniak was working for the computer company Hewlett-Packard, and the papers that said he could work there said he had to give everything he invented to the company before he could do what he wanted to do with it. He showed the first Apple I to the boss at Hewlett-Packard, but they did not want his computer. Wozniak was free to do what he wanted to do with the Apple I. It was sold in 1976. In 1977 they made their second computer, called the Apple II.
[change] iPod
One of the most popular products by Apple are iPods. All iPods with a screen can play music, display pictures, and play video. There are several different types of iPods.
iPod Shuffle
- iPod Shuffle (1 GB) has no screen, is very small, and has basic music playback functions. It comes in five different colors: silver, green, purple, blue, and red. All iPod Shuffles cost 49 dollars and hold 240 songs.
iPod nano:
- iPod nano (4 GB) comes in the color silver and costs 149 dollars. It holds 1,000 songs.
- iPod nano (8 GB) comes in the colors silver, green, blue, red, black, and pink. This model costs 199 dollars and holds 2,000 songs.
iPod Classic:
- iPod Classic (80 GB) comes in either black or silver and costs 249 dollars. It holds 20,000 songs.
- iPod Classic (160 GB) comes in either black or silver and costs 349 dollars. It holds 40,000 songs.
iPod Touch:
- iPod Touch (8 GB) has a touch screen, much like the iPhone, and it costs 299 dollars. It holds 2,000 songs.
- iPod Touch (16 GB) also has a touch screen, and costs 399 dollars. It holds 4,000 songs.
- iPod Touch (32 GB) has the same parts as the 8 and 16 GB versions, but hods 8,000 songs, and costs 499 dollars. It first went on sale in February 2008.
The red iPod shuffle and iPod nano models are part of the "(PRODUCT) RED" program. Ten dollars from the purchase of these iPods go to fight AIDS in Africa.
[change] Computers
Computers are what Apple is known for. Computers by Apple, called Mac(s) include: Laptops:
- MacBook (basic laptop, mainly for home and school use)
- MacBook Pro (a better laptop for professional people)
- MacBook Air (a very skinny laptop, which doesn't have a CD drive, mainly for home use)
Desktops:
- Mac Mini (a very tiny, but fully functional computer that doesn't come with its own monitor, mainly for home and school)
- iMac (a computer where the CPU is built in behind the screen, mainly for home and school)
- Mac Pro (a computer that doesn't come with its own monitor, very fast and for professional people)
Apple also makes software for their computers. The software that Apple makes is:
- iLife (a set of programs designed for everyday use) contains iMovie, a program for making movies, GarageBand, a program for making music, iPhoto, a program for organizing photos, iTunes, a program for organizing (and buying) music, iWeb, a program for making web pages, and iDVD, a program to make DVDs. These programs are considered very simple to use.
- iWork (a set of programs for office stuff) contains Pages, a program for making documents and Keynote, a program for making slideshows.
- Final Cut Studio (a set of programs for creating professional movies) contains a program for video making called Final Cut Pro, a program for music making called Soundtrack, Motion, a program for high-quality moving graphics authorship, and DVD Studio Pro, a program used to make professional DVDs.
- Aperture (for professional photographers to edit their photos)
Most computer users in the world use Microsoft Windows, the rival to Mac OS X. About 8% of computer users use Apple's Macintosh computers. It is not possible to run Apple's Mac OS X on a Windows computer. However, it is possible to run Windows on modern Macintosh computers. Even though Apple makes their computers to run OS X, they also make software that allows you to install Windows. This software is called Boot Camp. Apple's new operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 (also called Leopard), comes with this software.
[change] Other products made by Apple
[change] Apple TV
The Apple TV is a box that plugs into a TV. It can connect wirelessly to a computer that has iTunes and plays music, photos, and videos from iTunes on your TV. It comes in two kinds:
- Apple TV (40 GB) costs 229 dollars and can hold up to 50 hours of video.
- Apple TV (160 GB) costs 329 dollars and can hold up to 200 hours of video.
[change] iPhone
Apple's newest product that is a Phone, iPod, and more with a touch screen. The newest iPhone released uses 3G to surf the web. The iPhones come in 8 GB(Giga Byte) and 16 GB. The iPhone 3G comes in black and white (16GB version ONLY.) The new price for the iPhone 3G 8GB is $199 and 16GB is $299. This new version will be released on July 11, 2008.
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