RIP: “Apple Computer, Inc.”
January 9th, 2007 by Benj Edwards
It’s the end of an era, my friends. At today’s MacWorld keynote, Steve Jobs announced that the company is changing its name from “Apple Computer, Inc.” to simply “Apple, Inc.” to reflect their increased focus on consumer electronics.
The world’s most beloved computer company is no longer just a computer company. That’s fine with me, of course, because they make some of the best consumer products on Earth. Still, for someone who grew up with the legendary Apple Computer of old, it’s a little sad to see the original name go.
January 10th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Meh.. enough with the gadgets already…
January 10th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
fucc apple i like pc’s anyway! But thanx for my ipod lol
January 11th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Apple is the next Sony.
Beware the Apple.
January 11th, 2007 at 10:03 am
So who wants to start a company with me? I was going to call it “Pear” (thats : P-air).
I think it could make money. Just think of the play on words…?!?!
January 11th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Macs aren’t really revolutionary anymore so it’s alright…
January 11th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Apple’s still in buisiness?
January 12th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Yeah, its sad because I remember playing my old Oregon Trail on a Mac in elementary school, but really, this company lost it, as far as building computers is concerned, years ago. They are just a gadget company now, and if the gadgets ever start to fail them, well, I think Bill Gates will have his dream and purchase Apple from the ruins.
January 12th, 2007 at 11:33 am
No offense, but you guys are really out of touch with Apple these days. Their computers have never been better. They currently make the best computers on Earth, without a doubt. They didn’t in 1996, but Jobs turned all that around. Microsoft, not Apple, is the one in trouble these days.
January 12th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Yeah, Chaz is pretty much right. Nearly everything Apple does these days is widely imitated by their competitors — even in the computer market — so I’d hardly count them out. They tend to set the tone for innovation in any market they’re in. For example, the iMac was probably the most influential, imitated piece of consumer electronics in the last ten years. It’s no coincidence that you didn’t see multi-colored translucent radios, grills, cell phones, telephones, mice, computers, candy containers, game systems, back scratchers, and tons of other products, until after the iMac came along. And Vista’s new features are practically all a clone of Mac OS X and their suite of iApps. The examples could go on and on.
You may not like it, but whatever Apple does, other companies follow.
January 12th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Of course pundants have been forcasting the death of Apple for the past three decades.
As someone who uses Mac OSX every day I knew that this change was coming and I hope that it is just a marketing move. I doubt that Apple is planning on cutting back their efforts on the Macintosh platform but my stepdad has an Apple II up in his attic and I have a Mac SE at home.
January 12th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Thanks for your comment, Jake. Haven’t heard from you in a while! Welcome back.
Just to clarify to anybody out there — I am not saying that Apple will die, or that they will focus less on their computer division. I was just lamenting the death of the old name. 🙂
January 19th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I’m sure that Apple (The Beatles’ Apple) will be really pleased about this — they were already upset with Apple Computer, Inc., putting out music devices… now it is even more confusing as to which Apple is which… Apple should just buy Apple and then put The Beatles up on iTunes where they belong!
December 30th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
4 years later I wonder how many of the nay sayers that replied above still hold the same mentality towards Apple. This company even without Jobs (RIP) still dominates. The vast majority never really care about nor is there the same hype as Apple gets when, say, Samsung rolls out the next Galaxy phone or tablet. Why are they giving away tablets just for signing up with a package deal with the local cable company? The only ones giving away iPads here are car companies after you buy a specific model. Say what you will about Android and it’s “dominance” in the mobile industry, but iOS devices dominate when compared to each individual company that make Android devices. As some have said, Apple keeps setting the trend and the rest follow and emulate.
January 29th, 2012 at 1:57 am
It’s interesting to look back on this, as I remember back in late 1998 in a meeting with the then iCEO that the company was no longer to be referred to as “Apple Computer, Inc.” — just “Apple”. While it was easy enough to collect and destroy the teams’ business cards and reprint anew, I guess the legal machinations took longer.
Still, I had a little fun now and then railing on fellow employees whose cards still had the old terminology (or worse still, the horrific “rainbow” logo).
July 11th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
From 1984 to 1990, Macintosh was ahead of time. With Windows 3.0, IBM compatibles took the leadership and never let go.
So if Apple is doing a good commercial job with keyboard free computers on which you must add a bluetooth keyboard to make it work, good for them!