By now, most people in the United States and most of the modern world are familiar with at least one of the Apple companies products, while it is the iMac computer, MacBook parts, iPods and iPod parts, and the more recent iPhone. This company started in 1976 by three men who wanted to make the computer available and accessible to people for their own personal use, not just something that could be found at a lab or at work. This started out with the Apple I personal computer kit that was handed by one of the three men, Steve Wozniak. Through the late 70's they continued to invent items that would change how computers worked like the floppy disk to store data and by adding programs that allowed the use of color, graphics and spreadsheets for businesses. The computer world would never be the same.

During the 1980's Apple made their first large impression on the public with an advertising campaign for the Macintosh personal computer. They got a big producer to create a commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl in 1984 that cost 1.5 million dollars. Many believe, that that commercial and the buzz surrounding it, have made the Apple Company their start in being one of the largest companies around. The commercial was titled 1984 and was a take on George Orwell's novel by the same title.

The next decade continued to bring more changes andventions for the Apple company with some of the leaders leaving the company and new people taking over. At this point only one out of the original three men was still with the company. In 1991 they introduced the PowerBook which was a more portable laptop computer that was a new idea to computers in general. Everything that they came up with seemed to succeed until the mid to late 90's.

During this time, they also attempted to create other electronics including computers without much success. Some of the things that failed were digital cameras, portable CD players, speakers and other appliances for televisions. All of the problems took a toll on the company and their stock headed for a decline for the first time since it went public in 1980. The start of Windows software appeared to single handedly get the company back on track again as well as the invention of the iMac computer by Jonathan Ive.

Ive later went on to design the now famous iPod and iPhone and created a fan following for Apple that no other electronic or computer companies has done. The loyalty that many people have to this company and their products is incredibly strong. In 2001, Apple opened up their first retail store and even today, thousands of fans will line up outside the doors of a new store opening. The most recent popular item is the App store that allows third party applications to be sold for the iPhone and iTouch and is planned that the App store could be a billion dollar business for Apple.