Apple's Impact On Society

Everyone seems to be buying Apple products. Everywhere you look you see iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and many other Apple products. Apple has made multiple tasks such as accessing documents and information by the use of computers easier for the “average” person to accomplish. Founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in 1976, Apple was created on the basis of making the computer world more accessible to the average person, and they did just that. Economically speaking, Apple was just in the news, as its market capitalization topped $700 billion for the first time. (Huddleston) Apple has had multiple impacts on America; however, the main focus of this paper are the inventions that made computers more accessible, such as the mouse and
the smartphones. More specifically, the iPhone. In the beginning, Steve Wozniak invented the Apple I; and it was good. Their very first computer, the Apple I, went on sale in July of 1976, retailing for $666.66, which is the modern-day equivalent of about $2,730. (Measuring Worth) The Apple I had 4 kilobytes of RAM (Random Access Memory); for reference, the newest iPhone, the iPhone 6 Plus, has 2 gigabytes of RAM, which is 2,097,152 times the amount in the Apple I. They have come a long way. Despite having a rough past, Apple has managed to become one of the most well-known and most profitable companies in the world, especially considering its humble beginnings, as Apple was founded in Steve Jobs’ parent’s garage in their home in Los Altos, California. A college dropout, Jobs was an entrepreneur and an innovator. Between he and Wozniak, Jobs was more of a motivator and was the one to realize the possibilities that could change the computer world as we know it. Considering the problems, both financially and the lack of experience, Jobs and Wozniak managed to gain the attention of Mike Markkula, an entrepreneur, who in 1977, invested $250,000 into the company and this what really helped Apple take off. After this, as well as becoming incorporated, Apple began marketing and selling their computers mainstream. One of the most important inventions was the creation of the “point-and-click” concept which became the mouse as we know it. The mouse allowed direct manipulation of object on a screen which was a new concept to the computer world. In 2007, Apple released the first iPhone.
This release started a trend that showed that Americans preffered bigger and better phones that combined cameras, mp3 players, phones, and much more. Many of the concepts that helped create the iPhone were concepts which were used in the Newton MessagePad which was an early handheld device also created by Apple. (Macworld) One of the reasons that the iPhone was so popular was how easy and simple it was to use. This phone changed the trend of small and sleek phones to large and high functioning handheld computers. Apple has continued the trend of larger and higher functioning handheld computers with the newest addition of the iPhone 6 Plus which is the largest iPhone on the market. This phone features a 5.5 inch Retina High Definition Display and a built-in fingerprint scanner. (Apple) Apple continues to make huge impacts on not only America but on the entire world. One of these impacts is the impact made on the stock market. As I previously stated, Apple’s market capitalization topped $700 billion for the first time in history. The company’s stock has hit multiple record highs lately due mostly to the release of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. Apple’s stock shares have increased by 21% since it released the first iPhone. (Huddleston) At this point in time, Apple’s market cap is higher than the GDP(Gross Domestic Product) of all the world’s countries but 19, coming just behind Saudi
Arabia.