Corporate and Institutional Achievement

Apple

When Apple rolled out its new iMac in 1998, commentators couldn’t resist hailing the colorful new computers as the fruits of a design revolution. However, this was no conversion: the iMac was an affirmation of Apple’s core values. Since the mid-1970s, Apple Computers has overturned industry standards of speed and functionality with an approach that values design as an integral part of computer engineering. Apple’s first personal computer, the Macintosh, hit the market in 1984, introducing human-centered, easy-to-use applications, “icons,” and the point-and-click mouse at a time when other personal computers required technical expertise. Today, a reinvigorated Apple produces such leading products as the Power Mac G4, PowerBook G4, iPod, iBook, and the company continues to be one of the major suppliers of personal computers to schools and universities. Apple’s new flat-screen iMac, released in 2002, reaffirms the company’s devotion to design as a central tenet of their business plan.