Let's face It: Apple invented personal computers, mp3 players and smart phones

[rcgldr]

Getting back to the original topic:

Apple invented personal computers.

Kit based systems like the Altair 8800 were released in 1975, and some computer clubs were selling completed kits. The Apple II, Commodore Pet, and the TRS-80 were all released in 1977.

mp3 players

The SaeHan/Eiger MPMan, Diamond Rio, and Hango Jukebox were released in 1998 (Asian version of MPMan released 1997). The Creative Nomad, Cowon CW100, and Archos Jukebox were release in 2000. The iPod was released in 2001. As mentioned before, I still have an original DIamond Rio (its stored somewhere in our home).

smart phones

Nokia 9000 released in 1996. Blackberry released in 2006. iPhone released in 2007.

 

[Mark44]

@voko and @enorbet (and any other offenders):
If you can't keep the discussion civil, there will be consequences...

 

[enorbet]

@enorbet May I asked in a civilized manner, hoping to fulfill my curiosity: For the typical PC users I know, mainly using computers for games, web surfing, multimedia, office work and occasional programming, would having SCSI and firewire have made our lives significantly easier?

Hello.

Gaming - While it isn't really on the exact topic of this thread I think it is safe to say "Yes". In gaming, load times can be severe which is why many hardcore gamers now use SSDs. Being able to access multiple drives simultaneously or in raid was the only way to get close to what is now fairly commonplace w/ SSDs. SCSI drives had access times up to 1/10th that of IDEs and better than 1/2 that of SATA.

Web Surfing - no great gains here other than less vulnerability, mostly through obscurity, but still real.

Multimedia - Absolutely! This is why (not to beat a dead horse, but) Pro Recording Studios, Industrial Light and Magic, Pixar and numerous other multimedia users tended to gravitate to Mac. Windows has since caught up and Linux is slowly getting there, but Macs still proliferate in this field and for good reason.

Office Work - MS has quite the stranglehold here so even though Open Office and LibreOffice aren't bad at all, this is still easiest on a PC running Windows.

Programming - Neither Windows nor Mac would be my first choice for this field. It's great that Mac has "gone BSD" but they still do their best to make it difficult for casual users (and anyone else, by extension) to get "down to the metal" and that certainly includes Windows where, recently, even having Admin rights is still locked out of some deeper areas, even with downloaded improvements. For programming, I think Linux and true BSD are the best platforms.

FireWire - Although USB tried to name itself "poor mans SCSI" it has never been the self-aware bus that SCSI is. FireWire comes very close and did so by necessity since it was used mostly for connection to disks or mutimedia devices like Camcorders. I do thin we would be somewhat better off if FireWire had greater market share but they were up against the giant, Wintel. Today though, USB has become very solid so this is a bit of a non-issue anymore. USB won.

BTW - I know it is difficult when reading text dislocated from tone of voice and body language to sense the "feel" of a post. I honestly thought the civilized thing to do was break off from some posters. Apparently my words weren't clear enough, so I apologize for that. I truly wasn't angry or spiteful and certainly not to you.

 

[enorbet]

@voko and @enorbet (and any other offenders):
If you can't keep the discussion civil, there will be consequences...

I thought backing out was civil, but I will try to be more gentle.

 

[rcgldr]

SCSI drives had access times up to 1/10th that of IDEs and better than 1/2 that of SATA.

Depends on when and what company. Sata drives have been available with 7200 and 10,000 rpm for over a decade, and in many cases, it's the same drive mechanics with a different board, one for Sata, one for SCSI. Seek times are artificially reduced by "destroking" the drive to only use the outer tracks of a drive, which reduces capacity and seek times, and improves average transfer rate since bit density is fixed and the surface velocity is higher on the outer tracks.

Office Work - MS has quite the stranglehold here

Part of this is pricing, and part of this is Microsoft's policy of supporting products for up to 10 years or more. Some company's are still paying Microsoft for continued support of Windows XP. Link to article:

http://www.zdnet.com/after-30-years-why-did-the-mac-never-break-into-big-business-7000025743

As for home users, once you get past the $1,000 price point, Apple has most of the market place, with the main exception being gamers, but much of the gaming industry has switched to consoles, and the game stores don't carry many PC games since the trend is for PC games to be purchased via download.