From 1976 to 2019, Apple has become an integral part of everyday life for its customers. 43 years ago, Apple released its first computer, the Apple I. This invention was the start of a company that is now valued at over a trillion dollars.
The Apple I was a very basic, skin and bones type of computer. It wasn’t able to send and receive information, and used an old typewriter as a keyboard. Partners Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were able to sell the Apple I quite well, and built themselves up little by little. Soon after, Jobs and Wozniak founded the Apple company.
Comparing the Apple I to their newest MacBook Air, it is obvious that the technology used and the company itself has come a long way. In such a considerably short period of time, Apple has inserted itself in some way, shape or form in hundreds of millions of people.
Without a doubt, Apple’s popularity has skyrocketed. In 2008, around 11.63 million units of Apple products were sold. In 2018, about 217.73 million units of Apple products were sold. This shows an increase of 1772.14 percent. According to CNBC, the average American household owns 2.6 Apple products.
To accommodate with their rising popularity, their prices also had to rise. In 2012, an Apple iPhone 5 began at $199 for a 16GB phone. Today, an iPhone XS can start at a price of $999.
Even with all these changes on the physical side of Apple, they still have intermittent issues with their products, just as any tech company may. These bugs come and go with consumer-submitted reports. Most recently, Apple faced a bug with Facetime, allowing people to listen in on the person they were calling, even before they picked up.
As the technology world advances faster and faster with each passing day, the question of where to draw the line of privacy is being brought up more often. The uncaught Facetime bug was just one of many different flaws in software that could release a person’s private information.
Amazon’s Alexa has also been involved in an issue after sending about 1,700 recordings of a stranger to another man when he asked to see his own archive of recordings. This release of private information was due to a “human error” and again reveals the flaws with having technology listen in on your conversations.
Changes have been made to fix these problems, but there is no guarantee that similar issues won’t arise in the future. Technology isn’t always reliable and as private as some companies market them to be, showing the problem with integrating new technology into every aspect of life. Although it may be useful, it could provide you with another challenge, keeping your information safe.
