Apple Inc - A Case Study In Innovation - Part 1

Think about Apple computers, and one cannot but be baffled by its riches to rags to riches story.
This company epitomizes what innovation and re-invention is all about.
At a quick glance, Apple seems to have adapted and learnt to fly with the winds of change.
But there is more to this success than just adapting to change.

The Setting

Apple Computer

In the early 2000's, the company was ignored by mainstream. For a long time,
the doomsday predictors seemed right. The company stock had hit the pits and any hope was found only
in the devout, cult following they had for their computer products, many of whom frequented the
annual MacWorld show. A cult following is a great thing to have but not enough to have
the wide appeal to have sustained growth.

This was right about the time that digital media was gaining ground in the "underground".
Everything from digital pictures, to music to video could now be stored
on the computer. Digital still and video cameras were gradually starting to pick up in sales and get a following - especially among the younger section of the population. Even the film manufacturers were skeptical about
the new digital technology - they continued to reel out the film, with some sideways glance of apprehension
at the small company around the corner that was busy producing storage cards for the new camera's.

Digital music was just taking off. This was a world of chaos in the start. Programmers who owled out in front of their
computers would crank out a nifty looking MP3 player literally overnight, or other pieces of software that would allow you to play your songs on your computer, or programs that could "RIP" (or convert) your CD collection
into digital format. But what if you needed more music, stuff that was not already in your collection
of CD's ? Well you could "borrow" that CD from your friend and convert it to digital format for your enjoyment.

Borrowing - redefined

Companies emerged overnight that would make this "borrowing" process a lot easier,
They produced programs which would allow you to "share" your digital music collection with your "friends".
A "friend" could be someone sitting on the other side of the globe, who had the honest desire to "share" his/her music
with other friends. So now we had technology that would allow, hitherto unacquainted people to upload their
songs to a virtual "friend's" computer and similarly download their friend's songs
into theirs. Even the law of the land was relatively "toothless" to curb this illegal "sharing" at first.

This was the world of exciting,rapidly changing technology. You had to be a geek to understand and use
the technology. And you literally had to owl out in front of a computer to enjoy
the music or watch that digital video. But we still did not have the portability of a "Walkman" -
where you could take your music with you.

Apple Inc - A Case Study In Innovation - Part 1