Partly Owned by the "Enemy"
In August of 1997, Microsoft gave Apple a cash injection, paying $150 million for 150,000 shares of Apple Series A, non-voting stock. In return, a number of patent disputes between the two companies were settled, Microsoft agreed to continue developing software for the Mac platform and Apple pledged to include Internet Explorer as the default web browser on the Macintosh.
On the face of it, most people would think this deal didn't make much sense. Microsoft and Apple are bitter rivals, right? Well, not exactly. In 1997 Apple was in a bad place. The company had been struggling to find direction and profits for years, and had just gone through an overhaul in its company leadership. The stock purchase by Microsoft put cash in Apple's bank account and it gave other investors additional confidence the company would make it through tough times.
Microsoft was struggling with its own problems as well. The company was being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged anticompetitive practices. Making an investment in Apple was a brilliant public relations move. In addition, Microsoft sold (and still sells) lots of software for the Macintosh platform. Had Apple gone out of business, it would have meant lost profits for Bill Gates and the rest of the folks in Redmond.
Cash Per Square Foot
Apple has had phenomenal success with its Apple Retail Stores across the United States, and now other parts of the world. As of this writing, the company currently operates over 280 retail stores with more on the way. Given all of the problems other companies such as Dell and Gateway have had with retail operations, the odds seemed against Apple when the company opened its first store location.
Store openings are special events among Mac users and Apple fans. Thousands of people commonly show up during the first day a store is open to the public. Apple sometimes gives out free t-shirts and other prizes, making the store opening even more of a special event.
The Apple Store on Regent Street in London, England, was the company’s first European location. Is it successful? In a word, yes. The Regent Street store reportedly now takes in more cash per square foot than the world famous London department store Harrods. Pretty impressive -- especially since it's only been open since 2004! (The current store location of Harrods opened in 1851.)
Call Me By My Code Name
Apple commonly gives internal code names to products before their introduction into the marketplace. This is done because employees need to be able to refer to a product before an official name is chosen. It's also done because it keeps everyone outside the company guessing -- it's one of the methods used by Apple to keep private information secure.
Some of the product code names include "Onyx" (the Titanium-clad PowerBook G4), "Life Savers (the Revision C iMacs that came in 5 different colors), "Fortissimo" (Mac OS 9.1) and "Speedracer" (StyleWriter II printer). The code names often reference pop culture or jokes familiar to the team members working on that particular product. Some products are assigned multiple code names to further confuse the press and others outside Apple.
Museum Pieces
If you're ever in New York City, a visit to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) should be on your 'to do' list. Why? For starters, it's one of the most influential museums of modern art in the world. But if you’re an Apple fan, there's another bonus: many of the company's products have been acquired by the museum for display in its design collection.
Apple products in the MoMa design collection include an original Macintosh from 1984, a Macintosh SE from 1987, a Power Macintosh G4 Cube (from 2000) and a QuickTake (a digital camera).
Artists Sign Their Work
Have you ever looked inside the case of the original Macintosh? No, I'm not talking about the motherboard or the disk drive here -- I mean the case itself. On the inside of the case, in raised plastic, were the signatures of the Macintosh division employees. Apple CEO Steve Jobs felt that the Mac was a work of art. Artists sign their work, so it only made sense to have the signatures on the Mac.
Apple included the signatures on the original Mac and continued this practice part way through the production of the Mac SE. Several years later, Apple again included signatures on the inside of 2 Macintosh models -- the Mac IIci and IIcx . Both of these computers contained the signatures of the development team inside the case (underneath the motherboard) for at least part of their production runs.