Addendum: Apple@50

Apple turns 50!

In this world of almost blink-and-you-miss-it startups touting their products as definitely the future one second and wiped off the map the next, 50 years sure is a long time.

But that’s where Apple shines the most – try as you might, you really can’t imitate your way to maturity. Technology moves at a rapid pace, but people with the tenacity to think of what that technology can do for regular human beings are few and far between. In the past fifty years, computers have gone from being niche hobby build-it-yourself kits to being mass manufactured in giant factories and put into nearly everything, including perhaps your microwave and washing machine. The ubiquity of these devices, however, doesn’t really negate what makes a product truly wonderful. Maybe I’m idealistic, but I still believe that technology serves as the great equalizer.

Technology for me is a tool for thought. A bicycle for the mind, as Jobs might’ve put it. But since the days of the Apple ][, technology has become the most powerful tool we have. Whether it’s how the original Lisa and Macintosh changed how we thought about interfaces, or how the iPod and iTunes changed how we listened to music, or how the MacBook Air changed what we expected out of laptops, or how the iPhone changed how we communicate with each other – each of these devices was simply a new way to augment our own thinking. Apple’s real impact has never been these devices, but rather what they’ve made impossible to ignore. The greatest trick has always been restraint, hiding just enough to make everything feel like magic.

It’s impossible to predict what the next 50 years will look like for Apple, or even for the tech world in general. But if Apple’s last 50 are anything to go by, I’m more than certain they’ll continue making wonderful tools for thought.