7 Stunning Apple Products – A Blast From The Past

22 Jun 2009

Apple have gone from being a startup in a garage into a huge international business. Soon after they released the first ever iPod on October 23, 2001, it became a huge brand in itself and a fashion trend amongst the younger generation. But the iPod isn’t the only Apple product to break the mould – far from it. The company who ‘Think Different’ have created a long line of prestigious products through the years. Here are seven of their finest efforts to date.

1. Apple iPod 5GB – The Original

Before the iPod, MP3 players were known for their bulky size and boring colours – usually black or grey. But when Apple unveiled this new generation of music players, which was closely integrated with Apple’s iTunes software and marketed to the tech-savvy core Apple following, it was a huge hit.

What made it so popular? You could argue that the white plastic player and matching earbuds were what made this such an iconic product, especially since every other player at the time was either black or grey. Below you can see the first iPod commercial from way back in 2001!

2. Apple Newton – The iPhone’s Forebearer

I’m sure some of my subscribers/readers can remember the Newton from 1989. This device was so far advanced that it was destined to flop – the mass market was still only getting to grips with drag and drop! The Newton was based on the ARM 610 processor and featured an innovative handwriting recognition software. Here’s an unboxing of the Apple Newton to feast your eyes upon. It’s absolutely insane how big it is!

3. Apple eMac – The Low Cost Mac

This little desktop was introduced in 2002, however it lost its place in Apple’s roster of desktops only four years later when it was discontinued in 2006. Apple pitched the eMac as an affordable, more efficient computer for students as a substitute for the more expensive iMac G4 available at that time. In the photo below you can see how big and chunky it was. The video below presents the eMac and its three steps to the internet!

4. Apple iBook G3

Now onto the product that saved Apple’s from a slide down hill and into oblivion! This bad boy, arguably, saved the day and signaled a new direction away from what had been lackluster industrial design. But first, a little background. Before the release of the iBook G3 Apple’s finances were in poor shape as fewer and fewer people bought their products – they had to break new ground and do something new. And then, to quote his Steveness, boom! They were back. Here’s how they advertises the fact.

5. Apple Bandai Pippin

Apple Bindai Pippin

This was one of Apples not so well known products. A multimedia platform which was produced by Bandai in the mid 90’s. The target of the Bandai Pippin was to create an inexpensive computer aimed to play at CD-based multimedia titles, mostly games. It featured a 4x CD-ROM drive and a video output that could connect to any television monitor. It was soon discontinued due to low sales because Apple would not low prices from $599.

6. Apple Lisa – The Personal Computer

The Lisa project began with Apple in 1978 and grew into a project to design a powerful personal desktop that would target business customers. It was released in 19th January 1983 and was discontinued shortly after in August 1986. Many say this is due to Steve Jobs leaving the project to join project Macintosh.

7. Apple I – The Beginning

Apple I

This product was made by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, his friend had the idea of selling the computer. It was released in July 1976 but then discontinued in September 1977. A one year period which influenced these two friends into making computers in a garage. Many years on it formed into a huge world wide company. Who would have known?

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