Brand's Evolve: To Make a Long Story Extremely Short
Steve Jobs refused to license the OS or the hardware. Microsoft came out with Windows in 1986 and for a variety of reasons that included the licensing of Windows on various PCs, got the giant share of the personal computer market.
The users of Apple's computers tended to be adventurous, creative and think outside the box. Windows OS tended to attract users that preferred to go with the status quo and probably wanted the familiarity of computers that they already used at work or had used before. Initially very few owned a personal computer.
1987 - Steve Job's leaves Apple
Steve Jobs left Apple in 1986 due to internal discord within the company and Steve Wozniak left in 1987. Apple continued to attract loyal consumers but they were a select few compared to owners of other PCs with Windows OS. And over the next 10 years Apple began to lose its way. At one point Apple even licensed its OS which proved to be a disaster.
1997 - Think Different
Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 and immediately trimmed their line to a few key computers and abolished the licensing of the OS. The first iMacs shipped in 1998. The iMac was very sleek and sexy and came in a variety of colors, other computers were grey and rather dull in comparison.
At the same time the Think Different commercial was released.
Sales for the iMac were very strong, but even though the iMac did very well, the bulk of the PC sales were still going to the PCs with Windows OS. The "Think Different" is an amazing commercial but to a large extent it was preaching to the choir.
1 | 2 | 3