Impact of Apple Inc. on society

Apple

Introduction

Headquartered in the city of Cupertino, California, Apple Inc. is an American multinational company that sells and designs consumer personal computers, computer software and consumer electronics. The company's well-known products in hardware category are iPod, iPad, iPhone and Macintosh computers. Well-known products in software category are Mac OS X operating system, iLife a complete suite of creativity and multimedia software, iTunes media browser, iWork suite of productivity software, Safari web browser, iOS mobile operating system etc. Although several corporations have attempted to emulate the business model of Apple Inc., none of them has been able to learn about the element in the Apple business model that makes it so unique. Experts in Silicon Valley are of the view that several factors, not just one or two, have contributed and still contributing in the success of Apple Inc. including corporate culture of innovation and enthusiasm, high quality of high-tech products that company produces and remarkably extraordinary leadership skills of its late CEO Steve Jobs who led the company from the front since its inception. For the last four years, Apple Inc. has remained on top in the list of Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Companies. Apple is valued at around $154 billion that made it most valuable company and brand worldwide. Millions of consumers throughout the world admire Apple as a symbol of innovation, prestige and quality (Jordan, 2007).

Role of Apple Inc. in society today

It is Apple Inc. produced Macintosh computers that were first consumer friendly computers with graphical user interface. Macintosh is one of the significant developments in the history of computers that made them accessible to a wide audience. It was Apple that spearheaded the personal computer revolution initially by making them mass market. Key element in computers that Apple Inc. produced was the operating system Mac OS and its graphical user interface that even a ordinary person can use unlike DOS which was command driven and only an expert can use it effectively. Many features, most notably Graphical User Interface, of Mac OS were soon adopted and appeared in other competing operating systems such as Microsoft's Windows Operating System.

Apple has released its music playing device iPod back in 2001 that has revolutionized everything in the music industry at consumer's as well as producer end. iPod is now an icon of popular and modern culture. Music lover do not need to go out and buy their favorite artists' songs and albums as everything is available on iTunes. Consumers can download their favorite songs instantly from Apple's iTunes and enjoy them instantly. White head phones of Apple iPod are increasingly becoming symbolic that help people to be perceived as fashionable and trendy.

Evolution of Apple

Apple has evolved and changed radically changed as a company and the way it market and advertise its products. For example, company has shifted its focus from personal computer and software producer to consumer electronics manufacturer that called for changing the entire organizational culture of a company in order to make it ...