The Digital Century

A Rivalry Made in Heaven

Garage Mechanics: The Apple Seedling

It has become the stuff of legend. College dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sold a VW bus and a calculator to bankroll a tiny company named Apple Computer, which briefly operated from a family garage. But when Apple began on April 1, 1976, hardly anyone had faith in the fledgling enterprise--including Apple's forgotten third founder, Ron Wayne.

Two weeks later, Wayne backed out and sold his share for $800--earning him a place beside such other early departers as drummer Pete Best, who left the Beatles at the cusp of stardom in 1962. Not that Wayne's decision was groundless. The hobbyists who paid $666.66 for the Apple I didn't get a case, display, or keyboard--only a motherboard. But two years later another computer would come from the garage: the legendary Apple II. And soon Atari, HP, and other companies would be hustling to hop on the Apple bandwagon.

--Harry McCracken

The IBM Blues

It's no secret that IBM was initially reluctant to participate in the personal computing field. Only after Apple released its Apple II in 1977 did maverick IBM workers cobble together a comparable machine, which contained no IBM parts and ran on a Microsoft operating system.

But IBM executives weren't the only ones questioning their investment in personal computing. In 1981, when Big Blue introduced the IBM PC, Apple took out a now-famous Wall Street Journal ad implying that IBM presented no real threat.

In only six months, however, IBM sold 50,000 machines, and within two years it had surpassed Apple in sales. Big Blue had put its stamp on personal computing, and PC became the de facto term of a burgeoning industry.

--Yael Li-Ron

Big Brother Meets the Little Tramp

During the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII in 1984, CBS went to a commercial break, and millions of viewers en route to the refrigerator stopped cold in their tracks. On screen, a woman in running shorts and tank top sprinted into a dank hall filled with futuristic workers and swung a sledgehammer into the televised face of their Big Brother­type oppressor. "On January 24th," a voice intoned, "Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984." Directed by Ridley Scott, the stylish ad drew on the bleak images of George Orwell's novel to eclipse another famous Super Bowl pitch--for IBM.

Where Apple's ad was moody, the perky IBM spot featured Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp wheeling the PCjr in a stroller. The tag line read, "The bright little addition to the family," and seemed to say, "We're not a big, bad corporation. Even the champion of the toiling masses loves us."

Nobody bought the message--and few bought the PCjr, with its limited functionality and $999 price. In 1985, IBM pulled the plug on its offspring.

But while Apple won that battle, IBM and PC clones won the war. The "1984" pitch was an act of hubris that helped to fuel Apple's spectacular rise but also set the stage for its eventual fall.

--Karen Silver