Poll: What product has contributed most to Apple's turnaround?

[Unspeaked]

Pretty simple: which of the hit products Apple has released in recent years has contributed most to "saving" the company, or at the very least turning its fortunes.

I listed the obvious mega-hits but left an "other" option in case you think I missed something.

PS - Steve Jobs is not a product

 

[arkitect]

iPod.
To be specific, iPod compatible with MS Windows…

The iMac gave Apple the oxygen it needed to get to the iPod.

 

[basesloaded190]

i voted iphone, i would have voted ipod, but the ipod turned apple around a while ago. the ipod is now keeping apple on top and the iphone is showing the true innovation from the people working for apple

 

[Drumjim85]

people now use the term iPod to refer to a mp3 player ... (kinda like Kleenex, or coke)

My vote goes to the iPod

 

[Whorehay]

iPod
iMac

I feel like Apple was decent successful by the time the iPhone came out. But the iMac and iPod really pulled Apple from the depths of the sea.

 

[Unspeaked]

Well, here's how I see it:

The iMac certainly started things off. If it weren't for the iMac, Apple may very well have either been sold off or shut down completely. 1997 had been dire for Apple. People may forgot now, or may be too young to even remember, but it was massive in '98 and '99. Other PC vendors tried to copy it, products completely unrelated to computers stole its design and color scheme. People actually spoke about Apple again, and in a positive way! Amazing...

That being said, I don't think the iMac was enough to keep the momentum going. Yes, it was a huge hit and got Apple tons of media attention, but two very important things followed that allowed Apple to keep going:

1. Mac OS X. This made the Macintosh a viable platform again. If Mac OS X had not been released, all these people buying iMacs would have just gone back to PCs for their next purchase.

2. The iPod. A true category killer, this became the de facto digital music player - as has been mentioned. Its also lead to people taking a closer look at Apple's computer offerings, and making the Apple brand one of the most recognized in the world.

Still, even with the iPod, I think it's Mac OS X that we keep going back to. Someone buys an iPod, thinks it's great, take a look at a Mac and thinks it's equally great. Ends up buying a MacBook or iMac and now they're a Mac user. This scenario would play out very differently if Mac OS X wasn't as well-made as it is, and has been for many versions now.

The iPhone simply builds on what the iPod started. And remember - it's built on OS X!

And the Intel Macs have helped a lot in pushing the Mac platform to both consumers and businesses, but I think that yet again we find ourselves thanking Mac OS X for convincing people to turn to Apple in the end.

It's very close between the iMac, iPod and Mac OS X, but I think when it all comes down to it, the operating system is the constant that's been helping Apple out through it all.

 

[jemeinc]

OS X for me.. the success of the iPod is what made it mainstream, but as we all know, by the time something goes "big time" it's been good for a while.. Without OS X there's no iPods, no iPhones, no iMacs- heck maybe even no Apple (not likely, but you get my drift).. After the disaster that was OS 9 I'm sure there were many people wondering if Apple was going to be able to get it right.. I won't lie, I was wavering as I struggled through those days..

 

[Kamera RAWr]

iPod.
To be specific, iPod compatible with MS Windows…

The iMac gave Apple the oxygen it needed to get to the iPod.

Quoted for truth. The iPod definitely was crucial to turning Apple around, especially when it became compatible with Windows. I know I received an iPod for Christmas the first year it was available for Windows. The influx of cash from selling so many iPods gave Apple room to breathe and money for research, development and refinement of other products, IMO.

I know my passion for Apple and its products started with the iPod. I wondered what other cool offerings did they have.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

I'd say the original G3 iMac. Granted, the iPod has had a greater impact culturally and I imagine it's raked in more cash than the iMac ever did, but I think the shot in the arm the iMac gave to Apple at a potentially sticky point in its history shouldn't be underestimated.

 

[Unspeaked]

OS X for me.. the success of the iPod is what made it mainstream, but as we all know, by the time something goes "big time" it's been good for a while.. Without OS X there's no iPods, no iPhones, no iMacs- heck maybe even no Apple (not likely, but you get my drift).. After the disaster that was OS 9 I'm sure there were many people wondering if Apple was going to be able to get it right.. I won't lie, I was wavering as I struggled through those days..

I agree with almost all of this, but as I posted just before you, the iMac was out before OS X, so it could have existed without it

 

[squeeks]

i voted iphone, i would have voted ipod, but the ipod turned apple around a while ago. the ipod is now keeping apple on top and the iphone is showing the true innovation from the people working for apple

iphone?!?

apple had been doing just fine well before iphone was released, and they would still be doing just fine had they not, definitely ipod or OSX

lets put it this way, ipod saved the company, OSX saved the computer side

 

[jemeinc]

Quoted for truth. The iPod definitely was crucial to turning Apple around, especially when it became compatible with Windows. I know I received an iPod for Christmas the first year it was available for Windows. The influx of cash from selling so many iPods gave Apple room to breathe and money for research, development and refinement of other products, IMO.

I know my passion for Apple and its products started with the iPod. I wondered what other cool offerings did they have.

See, that's not true- there's no doubt that the cash helped in the areas you state- but Apple was already "able to breath" financially before the iPod went to Windows, and there other products, mainly macs running OSX were very well refined.. By the time Apple released the iPod for Windows they already had the best OS on the market for awhile.. many people didn't know it yet, but if they didn't have that stable OS there would be no "iPod halo effect".. had there been no substance to their style they would just be another cute little MP3 maker- maybe even still the best mp3 maker in the world- but they wouldn't be the innovators they are now, or had been in the past..

Does that make sense? I see your point and it makes total sense- all I'm saying is that Apple was on to something big before they sent the iPod to Windows.. I'll never forget the day the iTunes music store popped up in my update- I told my wife this was going to be huge that morning-(didn't take a rocket scientist to see that one coming)- but you just knew they were on to something..

 

[jemeinc]

I agree with almost all of this, but as I posted just before you, the iMac was out before OS X, so it could have existed without it

Yeah, you're right, but who actually had one? I know I had that big old clunky 5 GB thing that I paid $500 for- but no-one, and I mean no-one, knew what the hell it was..lol.. they laughed at the size of it..

What if OSX never came out and the when the iPod took off OS 9 was still running? I don't know.. It's a good question- kind of like what came first- the chicken or the egg..

 

[a104375]

The imac g3, clamshell ibook, ipod, iphone i believe were great things that have helped apple out over the years definitely the imac and ibook propelled apple toward the ipod which then propelled them toward the iphone

 

[jemeinc]

Wow!! It's amazing the different takes people have on this.. I wonder how much our views depend on A) either our age or B) when we decided to actually give Apple a shot..

Intriguing question..nice job unspeaked- got me thinking anyway..

 

[Unspeaked]

Wow!! It's amazing the different takes people have on this.. I wonder how much our views depend on A) either our age or B) when we decided to actually give Apple a shot..

Interesting way to look at it - I think B may end up being the deciding factor, since it only makes sense that the product that got you into Apple is the one you'd vote for...

Like I said earlier, there's people who probably don't recall the iMac launch or weren't interested in Apple back then so they don't remember how big a deal it was. Way bigger than when the iPod was initially released (as the infamous MacRumors thread that's still floating around indicates).

The thing about it is, if you'd asked me in 2000, I would have said iMac. If you asked me in 2005, I would have said iPod. But looking back at it now - in hindsight - I'm starting to see the underlying importance of Mac OS X.

Intriguing question..nice job unspeaked- got me thinking anyway..

Thanks! I'm glad someone is as curious as I am

 

[CalmEnvy]

I'd have to say the iPod when they allowed it to be Windows compatible. There's been other things as well but the iPod is what really sticks out to me.

 

[killmoms]

The original iMac (and really what I mean is "the return of Steve Jobs"). Without it (and him), Apple likely wouldn't have lasted long enough to produce (finish) OS X, the iPod, or anything else.

 

[puckhead193]

The original iMac (and really what I mean is "the return of Steve Jobs"). Without it (and him), Apple likely wouldn't have lasted long enough to produce (finish) OS X, the iPod, or anything else.

i'll second that. If it weren't for Jobs and the iMac this forum would be dead

 

[hulugu]

Well, I think the iMac gave Apple enough breathing space to finish OSX. Without the slight burst of sales and consumer attention, Apple was in serious trouble. However, the iPod has truly vaunted Apple into the mainstream, giving them the boost they needed to truly sell OSX with Panther, Tiger, and now Leopard.

I think of all three as boosters of a sort, each stage has lifted Apple higher into the position they now enjoy.
Without any one of those that momentum would have been wasted, but with all three firing in sequence, the collective success has done Apple well.

 

[jemeinc]

The original iMac (and really what I mean is "the return of Steve Jobs"). Without it (and him), Apple likely wouldn't have lasted long enough to produce (finish) OS X, the iPod, or anything else.

outstanding!!!! this could go so many ways.

 

[Unspeaked]

The original iMac (and really what I mean is "the return of Steve Jobs"). Without it (and him), Apple likely wouldn't have lasted long enough to produce (finish) OS X, the iPod, or anything else.

Even if it was his baby, I'd associate Jobs far more with OS X than the iMac.

The whole reason Jobs came back to Apple was because of the purchase of NeXT, which was the foundation of Mac OS X.

 

[bosxe]

iPod

6 years ago I was a freshman in high school and I was the first amongst my friends to get an iPod. I was heckled because I spent $400 on an MP3 player, (it was the 20gig, non-color 2nd? generation), fast forward to now and it's rare if not strange to find someone WITHOUT and iPod.

That was the ultimate "told ya so".

 

[killmoms]

Even if it was his baby, I'd associate Jobs far more with OS X than the iMac.

The whole reason Jobs came back to Apple was because of the purchase of NeXT, which was the foundation of Mac OS X.

Right, but while Jonathan Ive was the primary force behind the design of the iMac, it was Jobs' push to reduce the product line to a matrix of "consumer & professional" and "desktop & laptop," so...

And I'm well aware of the circumstances surrounding Jobs' return.

 

[jemeinc]

Even if it was his baby, I'd associate Jobs far more with OS X than the iMac.

The whole reason Jobs came back to Apple was because of the purchase of NeXT, which was the foundation of Mac OS X.

Fair point- but if we're going in that direction then we'd have to at least give NEXT an honorable mention, don't we? OS X is, depending on who you believe, either an exact clone of, or at the very least a derivative of NEXT.. Which was a key point in the whole decision to reunite with SJ..

This thread gets more interesting with every post..


EDIT: damn Unspeaked, you beat me to it...LOL.. I'm guessing your between 35- 42 and your personal history w/ macs dates back to the pre OS 8 days? We seem to remember things pretty much thes ame..