七个关键决定让苹果跃居第一

爱思英语编者按：苹果公司经过了长期的坎坷之路，现在终于走在时代的最前端，苹果在资本市场上超过了他的长期竞争对手微软。如今，至少在丘珀蒂诺，加利福利亚，苹果是最有价值的公司。

更具有意义的里程碑数据是电脑市场上的市场占有率。作为对比的是，微软占据了全球90%的PCs。史蒂夫·乔布斯觉得很内疚，自从19世纪80年代的时候被他自己的公司炒了以后，这个公司就变得越来越没价值，它的市场份额逐渐减少，也没有什么的创新了。

现在，乔布斯在10年后重返苹果做CEO—他曾经被认为是有机会执掌大公司的潜力股—现在是高新技术行业的领军人物了。

从第一款的iMac到划时代意义的iPad，展现了一系列的特色表现出把苹果从一个普通的公司成长为一个巨头。

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Above:
Jobs Returns, 1996A nearly bankrupt Apple Computer welcomed back its ousted founder Jobs in 1996. Apple purchased Jobs" startup, NeXT, to help build a new, Unix-based operating system — but the real prize was Jobs himself. A year later, Jobs replaced Gil Amelio as CEO to retake the helm. With the help of some financial backing from rival Bill Gates, the return of Jobs marked the beginning of Apple"s gradual recovery.

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iMac, 1998Under the renewed leadership of Jobs, Apple released the all-in-one iMac and its introduction drove Apple back into profitability in 1998. The computer, which came in a "Bondi Blue"color (named after the waters off an Australian beach), ditched the traditional floppy disk drive and introduced USB connectivity to the masses. An array of other translucent hues followed in January, 1999.

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iPod, 2001 Apple"s first iPod music player in 2001 marked the beginning of the digital music revolution. While it wasn’t the first portable MP3 player, it was the first wildly successful one. Controlled with a mechanical wheel for scrolling, the 5.5-ounce music player combined with the opening of the iTunes Music Store in 2003, would eventually give Apple as much as 90 percent of the MP3 player market. More importantly, Apple would ultimately become the largest music retailer in the world, surpassing Walmart.

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Mac OS X, 2001Jobs announced a new, Unix-based operating system, Mac OS X, in 2001, finally delivering on the promise made by the company"s 1996 acquisition of NeXT. The OS delivered a new interface called "Aqua," along with backward compatibility for the earlier Mac OS 9. The early versions of Mac OS X suffered from bugs and compatibility issues, but over the years Apple refined the system with several upgrades. Today, Mac OS X ships with Apple"s Macs, and specialized versions of the OS power iPhones and iPads.

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MacBook, 2006The MacBook debuted in 2006 with new Intel chips and a complete industrial makeover, doing away with the many design and performance flaws that plagued earlier Mac notebooks. The MacBook"s features and adequate power positioned it to appeal to a massive audience including consumers, professionals, students, creative hobbyists and more, even though there were cheaper notebooks available at the time (and the gap between Apple"s cheapest notebooks and the rest of the industry"s has widened since then).

The MacBook evolved to become the single bestselling laptop of any brand in the United States for half of 2008, according to research firm NPD Group. The success of the MacBook helped Apple brave the economic recession without rolling out a cheap netbook, as did many of its competitors.

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iPhone, 2007With the release of the iPhone in 2007, Apple launched a mobile revolution. The handset sported an unprecedented touchscreen interface designed completely by Apple. The company also used its clout to cut through the logjam of carrier requirements that had stifled innovation in the phone industry for years, essentially forcing AT&T into a sweetheart deal that put Apple in the driver"s seat.更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

A year later, Apple opened the App Store, letting users expand their iPhone"s capabilities by downloading third-party apps.
Combined, the iPhone and the App Store gave Apple a commanding lead in the mobile revolution. Apple has sold more than 50 million iPhones to date, and the App Store carries 200,000 apps and has served 3 billion downloads.

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iPad, 2010Apple created a new device category when it unleashed the iPad in 2010: a tablet device that sits somewhere between a smartphone and computer. It wasn"t clear whether anyone really needed one of these things, but they were certainly attractive. The 9.7-inch touchscreen device runs the same intuitive operating system as the iPhone, making the iPad the first computer that Luddites and nerds can equally enjoy. While the jury"s still out on the tablet"s long-term viability, Apple has been selling 200,000 iPads each week, which is more than the number of Macs it sells in the same period.

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