The site reviewer studied the history of a Swedish company that made furniture available to a wide range of people.

Furniture is an important part of creating home comfort, and it may seem strange that at the beginning of the 20th century, even in developed countries, many could not afford to buy it. Good furniture was quite expensive, and mostly wealthy people could buy it, while the rest were content with what they had or made it with their own hands.

Such circumstances were faced by a young Swedish businessman Ingvar Kamprad, who became interested in the furniture business in the distant 1948. Most likely, he could not even think that this idea would allow him to eventually create a world famous brand with a turnover of more than $ 30 billion.

Ingvar Kamprad was born in 1926 and spent his childhood on the parent's farm. Already in early childhood, the boy was famous for his entrepreneurial abilities. At the age of five, Ingvar began selling matches to his neighbors, learning that in Stockholm they could be purchased much cheaper. Aunt helped the boy buy the first batch of goods. Later, Ingvar will say that the moment when he sold his first batch of matches became the best childhood memory.

It soon becomes clear that this was only a small workout before his further endeavors. Kamprad biographers say that the ability to trade was transferred to him from relatives by his father. Ingvar’s grandfather had his own small business - though, as a result, he almost burnt out and committed suicide. Grandmother had to rebuild the family business, which significantly influenced the formation of Ingvar and even taught him several business lessons.

An unusually adventurous boy grew up, and his goals were increasingly different from the interests of peers. During his school years, Kamprad spent most of his time looking for new ways to earn money and did not spend his money at all on toys and sweets - he instead saved them. When relatives asked the boy why he needed so much money, he answered: "To expand the business." As a child, Ingvar tried himself in various fields, starting with the sale of matches and ending with fishing.

By the age of 17, Kamprad had accumulated a good amount, after which he borrowed money from his father and opened his own company. IKEA is an abbreviation made up of the first letters of the name and surname of the entrepreneur and the names of the farm and village where he grew up. The year 1943 was on, a war roared around the world, which, fortunately, hardly touched Sweden. Initially, Ingvar began trading in basic necessities. The first model of work was the mailing of goods. The young businessman was forced to combine work and study at the Getterberg commercial school, in which, as he himself says, he learned a lot.

Writing utensils began to be in special demand at that time. To increase profits, the young man takes a risky step: he takes 500 kroons on credit and orders ball pens from France for them.

When the goods finally arrived, the entrepreneur realized that he needed to be sold as soon as possible in order to pay off his debt. The task was not an easy one, but Kamprad still found a way to attract buyers to his presentation. He gave a note to the newspaper in which he promised to treat each visitor with a cup of coffee and a bun. Inspired by the proposal, people literally broke into his presentation. More than a thousand guests gathered, and it was a disaster. The young businessman understood that he needed to treat everyone, otherwise his name would suffer. With great difficulty, having spent a lot of money, he still managed to do it.

The presentation of pens was a great success, and the goods were sold out very quickly. Ingvar first gave a loan and never took it again. He began to reflect on the importance of advertising in attracting customers - in the future, it will become one of the main factors in turning his company into an empire. Another consequence of this promotion was the mandatory presence of a restaurant in every IKEA store.

In 1945, after graduating from a commercial school, a young entrepreneur was sent to work as a clerk in the Forest Owners Association. Ingvar didn’t waste time here either: he got one of the leaders the right to sell drank. The business model has not changed, the young man was forced to independently deliver goods for sale. Invaluable help was given to him by relatives who supported all of Ingvar's undertakings.

A year later, Kamprad was drafted into the army. An active and very executive young man quickly gained the confidence of the commander of the unit and received permission to take nightly dismissals more often. This allowed him to rent a small office and continue to do his own business.

In 1948, Kamprad was thinking about expanding his business. It dawned on him: furniture is what everyone uses one way or another. The problem is that it was then quite expensive, but in order to earn money, it was necessary to make this product publicly available. According to Ingvar himself, the last argument in favor of working in this direction was that his competitors also tried to do this. In the same year, IKEA expanded: the head of the company, he was the only employee who, desperate to work in so many directions on his own, finally hired the first employee. By 1950, the company already had four people.

Kamprad spent all his time trying to find cheap furniture - at first it was a variety of small industries that could not break the high price. Its competitors also tried to reduce the cost, but could not offer the same prices as IKEA. Over time, Ingvar's approach changed, and instead of reselling furniture, he began to buy individual parts and assemble them in his own small factory, which further reduced prices. Then the famous Kamprad formula appeared - it is better to sell 600 chairs inexpensively than 60 for a lot of money.

Soon a wave of discontent rose, signifying the beginning of serious competition. At first, the company's products were no longer allowed at furniture fairs, where usually all the new items were presented. Camprad had to trick into these events, hiding in the back seat of the car. The fight against IKEA reached the point of absurdity: once Ingvara was fined for selling products at an exhibition that took place in his own building.

Kamprad was not going to give up, and competitors realized that in such ways he could not be stopped. They took the last possible step, threatening to force suppliers to boycott the young entrepreneur. But this did not help either. The reason was Kamprad's original entrepreneurial approach, as well as the unusual popularity of the company's products in Sweden.

Such fame was made possible thanks to the innovations that Ingvar introduced into the business. The first of these was the IKEA News brochure, targeted at low-income people, a prototype of modern catalogs that should have attracted customers. The first few years, the booklet did not advertise furniture at all, but the usual pens for writing.

In addition, the cheapness of the products sold and Ingvar’s ability to negotiate with suppliers helped out - some of them collaborated with the young entrepreneur, despite all the bans.

LLC ProektStroy Group dates back to 1996 when a division of TransexGazproekt LLC was established on the basis of CJSC GazNIIproekt and LLC Samaratransgaz, specializing in the implementation of survey and design work on the design of gas facilities.

In 2000, it was decided to expand the scope of the enterprise in the field of design and avoiding narrow specialization. LLC TranexGazproekt completely became the property of LLC Samaratransgaz and was organized by ProjectStroy LLC, which, along with projects of gas facilities, began to implement projects of public, industrial, residential buildings, engineering networks. An own material and technical base was formed, the latest survey equipment was purchased.

In 2003, the production capacities of one organization became insufficient for the volume of design work being carried out. In order to optimize the production process, ProjectStroy Group LLC was organized as a leading organization, which was supposed to combine several developing commercial areas: research, design, engineering, commercial digital printing. The whole project process was reorganized, modern means of computer design, planning and workflow were introduced, new engineering equipment was purchased.

Since 2003, the main areas of activity of the group of companies have been distributed as follows:

• ProjectStroy LLC - engineering surveys.
• ProjectStroy Group LLC - design work, commercial digital printing, the formation of a new direction: customer-builder, engineering services.

In 2005, a new direction was allocated into a separate structure - LLC StroyEngineering, which served as the customer-developer. A number of projects were carried out on economic calculations, the justification of investments, which, in turn, were to be embodied in 2008 in the construction of 4 car dealerships and a large exhibition business center in the village of Krasny Pakhar, Samara. However, the global financial crisis prevented the implementation of the plans, investors sold their assets, construction was frozen. At the end of 2010, in connection with the introduction of regulatory mechanisms for the construction industry on the basis of SROs and a small demand for the services of a customer-builder, a decision was made to liquidate StroyEngineering LLC as an independent structure. Since 2010, engineering services have been carried out by ProjectStroy Group LLC.

At present, ProjectStroy Group LLC has managed to overcome the consequences of the crisis, retained the material and technical base, the main backbone of the creative team. And despite the reduced volumes of work and difficulties associated with the transition period for the restoration of the country's economy, he is optimistic about the future and is not going to stop there. The organization plans to further modernize project production based on modern automation tools, optimize production, reduce production costs and move to a new high-quality level of design.

The realities are such that Russian Betters see the screensaver "Access to the site is prohibited" more often than the site of the Melbet bookmaker. Yes, no one is surprised at this anymore: not only Melbet's customers, but all the gamblers, suffered from the Internet cleaning arranged by Roskomnadzor. Indeed, the list of blocked sites included most of the bookmakers, poker rooms and online casinos. Their work in the online space of the Russian Federation was called illegal and terminated in such an elegant way - blocking.

But there is opposition to every action, and therefore in Russia quickly there were craftsmen who easily visited any blocked sites. To do this, it was enough to install Tor or put the VPN extension in your favorite browser. There was also another workaround that BC Melbet herself provided the players with - a mirror of the site. And while Roskomnadzor reported on the successful blocking of the official sites of bookmakers, Melbet simply copied its own site - and published it under a different domain.

So, two Melbet bk sites appeared on the Internet: a mirror, which could be accessed by any knowledgeable player, and the old site, safely listed in the banned list. Apart from this minor detail, there was no difference between the two sites. Melbet's customers easily got into their old accounts from the mirror and calmly continued to bet. But this continued exactly until the mirror Melbet blocked Roskomnadzor.

This, of course, did not become a problem: mirrors are a universal thing and are not limited in quantity. The bookmaker did not cost anything to release another copy of his site, and after blocking it - another one and so on. Of course, all these transfers from mirror to mirror were very unnerving, because every time the player had to look again under what domain name the "spare" site is now.

Now this eternal problem of betters is solved. By following the link above, you will be taken to the Melbet working mirror. Use this option on your next search: you will definitely save both time and nerves - and you will still need them when playing on bets. By the way, if an “illegal” game is your unconscious choice, there is an option that will permanently save you from blocking problems. This is a game in legal offices - and many of them are in no way inferior to BC Melbeth. So getting out of the shadows is never too late).

Melbet Betting Today Access your Melbet 2019 site today! Greetings to all betters, today I would like to touch upon an important question for all of us: where to look for a working mirror of a melbet? I will tell you the options that I personally use. If the user correctly indicates the result of the match, then he receives a reward in the form of a bet multiplied by a coefficient. Many betting enthusiasts have already replenished their wallets thanks to this proven bookmaker. But the office administration provided for such a development of events and created a working mirror, which is an alternative site melbet, which is an exact copy of the main one. In addition to linking to the mirror, you can use other methods to restore access. Each of the above options has pros and cons.
  VPN involves downloading a special extension that allows access to sites from the IP of another country. Roskomnadzor blocks resources only for users from Russia, and thanks to VPN you can create the appearance that a person is in another state. Sometimes relevance is lost and you have to install a new application for access.

Today LifeGlobe will introduce you to the most interesting examples of how the future popularity of a nascent company may depend on a good combination of circumstances, luck, or even spelling mistakes. We bring to your attention the history of the emergence of 20 leading global brands of our time

At all times it was known - its future success depends on the catchy, memorable name of the company. Recently, with the creation of any large company or with the goal of rebranding an existing, but unpopular, the most commonly used practice is “brainstorming” - when all employees gather in one room and “throw” their ideas of names on a common table. This is an interesting and correct approach, but sometimes no “brainstorming” can be compared with the will of the case, which leads to completely unexpected ideas or makes a mistake that will cause megapopularity of the brand in the future ...

Of course, in the last words there was a reference to the most famous case of this kind - a typo when registering the domain of the most extensive and popular Google search engine to date. Page and Brin’s original search engine was called BackRab, but at some point they decided that something needed to be changed - in 1997, a “brainstorm” was conducted among students in the hostel of Stanford University, the purpose of which was to find a name that suited would be a search engine capable of processing tremendous amounts of information. After several unsuccessful hours, the idea came to Page himself - the word googol, meaning a unit with a hundred zeros, but a student who was entrusted with the registration of a domain name made a typo, as a result of which google.com was born

In order not to go far, let us recall how Facebook was created - the largest social network in the world at the moment. As you know, the first trick of Mark Zuckerberg was the theft of photographs and data from Harvard students, and posting them on his Facemash website with the possibility of voting for a particular photo. But the leadership of the university did not appreciate the student's inventiveness and Mark was expelled. After a while, the idea of \u200b\u200banother project came to Zuckerberg’s bright mind, which was much more ambitious and this time completely legal. Once Mark was sorting through old things and accidentally stumbled upon his school photo album "The Photo Address Book". He remembered that no one ever liked the name, because it was long and it took a long time to pronounce it, so everyone called the album just “Facebook” - that’s how the future social network got a name that today is not known except in the most backward countries of the world or some indigenous tribes of South America \u003d)

Another social resource, popular with us - VKontakte - got its name due to the fact that Pavel Durov, who created it, listened to the Ekho Moskvy radio station, where the phrase "In full contact with information" was often repeated on the air. Without hesitation, Pavel removed unnecessary words and registered a domain name, which recently generally shortened to just two VK letters. Well, I didn’t bother with the logo at all - I used the example of Facebook \u003d)

The name of the Russian search resource Yandex is in fact an abbreviation, and it is different in Russian and English - “Language INDEX” in Russian and “Yet Another iNDEX” in English. About who came up with such an idea, nothing is known for sure, but according to the official version, it was one of the developers of the search engine

The domain name for a foreign search engine Yahoo! invented, without knowing it, the Irish writer Jonathan Swift, who called this word an annoying tribe of natives in "The Adventures of Gulliver." In addition, it is also a joyful exclamation common in America, so the founders of Yahoo! Jerry Young and David Filo chose just such a name for the domain of the future search resource - in their understanding "Yahoo!" means the joy of the user that he found the necessary information

The creator of the Hotmail trademark, which is now part of Microsoft, is Sabir Bhatia, who at one time went through a bunch of names ending in "mail" and, in the end, settled on the name Hotmail - due to the fact that it is also encrypted HTML abbreviation. The very idea of \u200b\u200bcreating mailboxes, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world that has Internet access, belongs to Jack Smith. Today, Hotmail is on the verge of closure due to the emergence of a more convenient Outlook.com. In 2013, Hotmail will forever cease to exist, and its users will be automatically switched to a new mail service

In order not to go far from the Internet and IT technologies, let us recall one of the leading manufacturers of prestigious new consumer electronics products - Apple, whose brand in May 2011 was recognized as the most expensive brand in the world. The history of the name is quite comical - one fine day, after three months of unsuccessful attempts to come up with a name for the company, Steve Jobs threatened his partners that if they didn’t offer him a normal option before 5 pm, he would name the company after his favorite fruit - an apple ! Didn't offer ...

The name of another major electronics producer was decided by a coin - William Hewlett and David Packard tossed it when they decided whose last name would appear first in the name of their joint venture, the first office of which was Hewlett’s garage. It is logical to assume that since the company is called Hewlett / Packard, then the coin turned out to be happy just for the owner of the garage \u003d)

The Japanese company Sony also went through a long search - the creators of Tokyo Tsushin Koge Kabusiki Kaisa (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company) Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuki wanted to find a shorter and more concise name, but could not think of anything. And then the Latin language came to their aid, and specifically the word sonus, which translates as "sound." In the courtyard were the 50s and in Japan the American word sonny, consonant with it, was widely spread, but written down with Japanese characters it meant "unprofitable." The problem was solved with the simplicity inherent to the Japanese - they crossed out the extra N from the name and registered the SONY brand

Another Japanese company, a giant specializing in the production of digital equipment for home and office - Canon - originally, when created in the 30s of the last century, bore the intricate name Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Japan. But with the creation of the first camera, named for some reason in honor of the Buddhist goddess of mercy Kwanon, the brothers Goro and Saburo Yoshida decided to rename the company and at the same time take on several consonant names, including Canon - just in case. Such foresight helped them in the future to avoid problems with religious structures that did not like that the name of the great goddess bears "some strange thing" - in the end, the Yoshida brothers settled on the name Canon, because it turned out that, in addition to melodiousness, it is also translated from English as “canon”, and in French it means “gun” - since then, more and more new “photo guns” have been produced \u003d)

The name of the South Korean industrial concern Samsung in translation means "Three Stars." The reason for this name of the company is not known for certain, but many associate it with the three sons of its founder

The name of the American company Kodak was born thanks to the love of its founder George Eastman for the letter "K" - he was looking for short words that would begin and end with this letter. He was also attracted to it by the fact that the letter "K" is spelled the same in all the world’s most popular alphabets. As a result, the word "Kodak" was born in Eastman’s head - it was such a sound, in his opinion, that he made in 1888 with a camera with a film on 100 frames

The creator of Xerox Chester Carlson wanted to emphasize the fact that before the advent of his invention - a copy machine based on dry ink powder - there were only wet copy technologies. Therefore, Chester sat down at the dictionaries and found the word "xer" in Greek, literally translated as "dry", and based on it he came up with the name for his device - "xerox"

In order not to go far, remember that in another American state a company was born whose products we used in liters in the 90s - we are talking about Pepsi-Cola, which the pharmacist Caleb Bradham invented at the end of the century before last. There are several versions of where the name came from. More common, Caleb named the drink after pepsin, a digestive enzyme that helps our stomach break down protein. According to another version, Bradham simply took the name of the company of one of his local competitors - Pep Cola - and “edited” it a little. The last opinion that you can pay attention to is based on the assumption that people liked that a black drink gave them vigor and strength (from the English pep - energy, vivacity) - hence the name

Already in this, XXI century, Pepsi-Cola was thoroughly pressed by another no less black and no less harmful drink - Coca-Cola. The pharmacist John St Pemberton did not hesitate over the name for a particularly long time - he named the main ingredients of his prescription, created on May 8, 1886, - three parts of coca leaves (which are so popular in Colombia ...) for one part of tropical nuts of cola tree. You can learn about other ingredients from the article What is included with everyone's favorite Coca-Cola. According to another version, the name for the drink came up with a local farmer who sold it to a pharmacist for $ 250. The Coca-Cola logo was written in calligraphic letters by Pemberton accountant Frank Robinson - a gifted accountant, judging by the fact that the logo has not changed since then)

The name of the German industrial concerns Adidas and Puma also has an interesting history. Once upon a time, in the 20s of the XX century, two brothers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, founded a common company for tailoring shoes. They called it unpretentious - Dassler (full name - "Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory"). In 1948, after the death of his father, the brothers quarreled strongly and decided to continue on their own. Consequently, they agreed that no one would use the name Dassler anymore. Adolf named his newly formed company Addas, which was later replaced by a more harmonious Adidas (from the abbreviated name Adolf - Adi Dassler), and his brother Rudolph founded the Ruda factory, later renamed the similar word Puma. On this joint story of the Dassler brothers finally ended

The Tokyo engineering company Mitsubishi was founded in the early 1870s, the three-leafed logo was the emblem of the family of the founder of the company, Yataro Iwasaki. As a result, the name “Three Diamonds” was coined from the coat of arms (“mitsu” - “three”, “hishi” - “diamond”, according to another version of the translation - “water nut”). Why then does it not sound like Mitsuhishi? The clue lies in the phenomenon of Japanese morphology, or Randaku, due to which often the deaf initial consonants of the root when reading become voiced if the prefix of the word is prefixed or another root. That's why the letter "h" in the middle of the word Mitsuhishi is pronounced "b"

The history of the name of the South Korean financial and industrial group Daewoo is not as interesting as the translation of the name itself is unusual, which few people know about. The founder of the company, Kim Wu Chong, called it simply and modestly - "The Big Universe." Indeed, much more modest)

No less interesting is the name of the German auto giant Audi. The word itself is borrowed from the Latin language and translated as “Listen!”, But the main interesting feature is that Audi is a Latin version of the name of the founder of the company August Horch. The fact is that they did not particularly think about the name for the first machine produced at the newly formed plant - they simply called it Horch, but when they began to come up with the name for the next model, the son of one of his partners came to the aid of Augustus, who proposed the Latin version of the head's name . Since then, the story of one of the most successful automotive companies in the world begins, which today is part of the Volkswagen Group

As you can see, some companies were called by intuition, others took weeks and months to find a suitable name, but all of them, nevertheless, became successful in their economic niches - mainly due to the right name, an interesting idea and well-coordinated work of their teams

“An apple doesn’t fall far from an apple tree,” says folk wisdom. We have a great reason to investigate how right the Russian proverb is. After all, today's article is devoted to legendary Apple  (from the English. "apple"), which was founded by no less famous.

We introduced this person to our readers earlier, and now it's time to get acquainted with his “brainchild” - Apple, the largest manufacturer of personal and tablet computers, audio players, mobile phones and software.

Apple was founded in 1976 Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. She has already crossed her 35-year milestone and boasts certain achievements.

At the time of the founding of the company, Steve Jobs was 21 years old, Steve Wozniak was 25 years old and Ronald Wayne was 41 years old. This significant event took place in the house of foster parents of Steve Jobs, or rather in the garage:

Please pay particular attention to this fact. Many well-known global brands that cost billions of dollars began their journey in an ordinary garage.

Many newcomers who want to open their own business think that opening up their own business requires huge money, that you need to rent a room for a business, purchase goods or equipment, and hire a bunch of staff.

As a result, even at the start, a rather large amount runs up, which the beginner simply does not have. And this amount usually scares the person. Of course, there are types of businesses that require fabulous money to open from the first days.

Look for ideas that you don’t need a lot of money to implement, so that you can start this business in your parents ’garage or even right in your room. But back to Apple.

Apple is the most influential brand in the world and the most expensive company in the world.

In May 2011, according to the rating of research agency Millward Brown, the Apple brand was named the most expensive brand in the world. According to Forbes data for October 2012, the Apple brand has become a leader in the ranking of "most influential", ahead of brands such as, and IBM.

In November 2013, the market capitalization of the company, that is, its actual value is about 472 billion dollars, and the company reached its maximum capitalization in September 2012, when its market value was estimated at more than $ 700 billion., making Apple the most expensive company in history!

Apple is headquartered in the small town of Cupertinothat is 75 miles from San Francisco, California. Interestingly, the number of Cupertino residents is even less than the number of Apple employees - the company currently employs 60,400 employees!

What distinguishes the many thousands of Apple from its competitors and allows it to earn billions of dollars?

The company, historically a manufacturer of PCs and software, expanded its market segments in the 21st century, entering the next development orbit with new audio players, smartphones and tablet computers.

Apple, of course, is a leading company, an innovative company, and in this it is very similar to its co-founder Steve Jobs.

Apple's merits are undeniable, because iPod audio player  made a real breakthrough in the world of digital music, iPhone smartphone  turned our vision of mobile phones, and iPad tablet  set the vector for the development of the digital devices market.

All these “gadgets” have become an integral part of the image of a business, respectable and successful person. I won’t be surprised if intelligent “Apple” devices with an “ai” set-top box generally supplant such names as “audio player”, “phone” and “tablet computer”.

Tim Cook, Apple's CEO since 2011, said he was very proud that the company is entering the pre-holiday season “with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod and complete confidence in the potential of our new product line.”

The production of these new products, which are in high demand all over the world, has really dramatically improved Apple's financial position.

As Steve Jobs said at the presentation of the first iPhone in 2007: “We did not create a new phone, we invented it again”

And at the presentation of the iPad 2 Internet tablet in 2011, he announced the advent of the era of post-computer devices.

According to him, they are simpler and more understandable than conventional PCs and it is for them that he sees the future, while his competitors are only "trying to find the optimal balance in new PC models."

And even though these very competitors, represented by the founder of Microsoft, call the iPad just “a good reader and nothing more,” time will tell who is right.

And this is the highlight of Apple. More precisely, one of many. After all, if you unravel the secret formula for the success of the apple company and master the art of creating such popular and beloved by everyone products and devices, you can fabulously enrich yourself.

I note that after the advent of the tablet, part of online publications began developing special applications for it, for example, Time magazine, the most popular magazine in the USA, developed a whole concept for its iPad version.

However, was it only innovation and high technology that helped Apple achieve the podium that the company has comfortably accommodated today?

Indeed, now Apple is more than new IT technologies and modern production. Apple is an aesthetic design, a unique reputation, a recognizable style, a successful image and a whole culture in the consumer electronics industry. In a word, Apple is a legend.

And let them say that "to find out if a person has an iPhone is easy - he himself boasts it in the first five minutes of his acquaintance" and "the main purpose of the iPad is to show that you can afford an iPad."

There is some truth in every joke, and the fact that “apple” anecdotes appeared indicates that all these “ai-pieces” have leaked onto our market, got accustomed there and fell in love.

Although this is true. Today, Apple products - it is more likely in the first place - a symbol of the wealth and prosperity of its owner. People who buy an iPhone for the first time do this not because of its technical features, but because of the status.

After all, if you understand this, then for the same price you can buy a more sophisticated gadget in technical terms, but whose name is not so well known. Perhaps this feature should be adopted.

If you are engaged in a business or plan to create it, then you need to aim not only at the technical parameters of your product or service, but also at its social aspects. If you manage to create a product that will be cool to own, then your business will go as it should.

To dot the “i” in this “Apple” prefix, I’ll say that Apple is even more than an i-gadget manufacturer.

After all, the company stood at the origins of the creation of personal computers, its history is not simple and interesting.

One of the merits of Apple is that it was this company that paved the way for the production of personal computers with its Apple II series of PCs. In addition, Apple before others saw the great features of the graphical interface and computer mouse, introducing them into its products.

Let us, in order, outline the important steps of Apple’s long journey:

1976 - the year the company was founded.

One version of the origin of the name says that Steve Jobs wanted to see the company on the first pages of the telephone directory, hence the name on "a", and according to the second version, he simply fulfilled his threat to call the company "Apple", because nothing better was invented.

By the way, this is what the first Apple Computer logo looked like

By the way, it was this logo that was invented by the third apple co-founder Ronald Wayne  (Ronald Gerald Wayne). He is also called one of the biggest losers in the world, because he lost a tenth of the company for only 2,300 dollars.

The fact is that when they opened Apple, then Ronald Wayne did not have confidence in the favorable future of this company. In addition, he had property, which he risked if things in this business went wrong.

Legally, all members of the company were responsible for any debts of the company, even if they arose through the fault of another partner. Jobs and Wozniak still had nothing at that time. They practically did not risk anything, and Wayne could lose his property, which could go in favor of creditors if things went bad.

Let me remind you, officially Apple Computer, Inc  was registered on April 1, 1976, and Wayne gave up his share on April 12, that is, in less than 2 weeks. Thus, he deprived himself of a potential fortune of $ 70 billion!

Let me remind you that in September 2012, Apple cost more than $ 700 billion, and 10% of this amount is $ 70 billion. Well, as they say: “I would know a purchase, I would live in Sochi.” And we will return to the history of the company, or rather the logo.

The logo created by Ron Wayne did not take root in the company. It was used for about a year, after which they decided to replace it with something simpler and more understandable. As a result, Steve Jobs turned to designer Rob Janoff, who created this logo:

This logo was created in just a week, and it was bitten so that it was firmly associated with an apple, because without a bite it could be confused with a tomato.

The Apple logo is simple, clear and recognizable.  It flashes in films, in places of meeting of successful people and increasingly in everyday life. They say that even the president of Samsung, Apple’s main competitor in the smartphone market, is afraid to eat apples in crowded places: what if the paparazzi take a picture of him with a bite?

By the way, this logo existed in the company from 1976 to 1998, after which it was replaced with a monochrome one:

Now let's get back to the history of Apple. In 1976, the release of the Apple I programmable computer began.

1977-93   - release of various models of Apple II computers. He became the first mass-produced computer company.

1980   - Apple holds the largest in history after 1956 (Ford entered the stock exchange that year) initial public offering.

Thus, Apple becomes a public company, and now its shares are traded on the NASDAQ stock market and the London Stock Exchange. In 2012, the company's shares exceeded the $ 500 mark for the first time, and in the same year they reached $ 700 in electronic trading on the NASDAQ.

1980   - Characterized by the failed release of the Apple III PC. This computer turned out quite crude. He constantly broke down and besides, there were very few offers for him in the computer software market.

Problems with their sales lead to the fact that Jobs dismisses 40 employees, and the media talk about the imminent collapse of the company.

By that time, Jobs had cooled to the Apple III project and turned his full attention to the Apple Lisa project. And around the same time, Jobs began the first “graters” with other co-owners of the company and the board of directors.

Jobs was a tough enough person. He always wanted it to be as he wants, which is why conflicts arose with employees, engineers and partners.

The fact is that for the development of a project in companies like Apple create special working groups that solve the tasks. Each group has its own leader. And Jobs used to get into the affairs of a particular group and make significant amendments to previously developed projects.

Something like this happened with the Lisa project. Imagine that a computer project has been developed and work is in full swing. Then Jobs appears and orders everything to be done differently. Naturally, all this terribly slowed down the work, and since Jobs was a perfectionist, he did not calm down until he brought every little thing to perfect condition.

This led to disruption in the deadlines for the completion of projects and, consequently, to a loss of profit for the company, which the shareholders did not like very much. As a result, Jobs was removed from the Lisa project. what terribly upset him.

1983 - Steve Jobs invites the experienced John Scully, the then CEO of PepsiCo, to the post of president of the company. The phrase, with the help of which Jobs managed to “lure” Pepsi's top manager into the Apple director’s chair, became one of the most famous sayings in business - “Do you intend to sell soda for the rest of your life or want to come with me and change the world?” Scully chooses Apple and leads the company until 1993.

True, Jobs will soon regret it, saying that Scully's invitation to work was the most unfortunate decision in his life.

1984   - Apple introduces the new 32-bit Macintosh computer, named by developer Jeff Raskin in honor of his favorite apple variety. True, Jeff led the project at first, and then he was sent on a forced vacation, and the project was led by Steve Jobs.

The release of Macintosh computers strengthened Jobs’s position in the company, as thanks to the release of this model it was possible to increase the company's profit.

After that, the company ceases production of an uncompetitive PC of the Apple III family. The Macintosh series is becoming the company's core business.

1985   - Due to conflicts in management, the company leaves its co-founder Steve Jobs. Although leaving the company does not sound quite true. In fact, he was fired from his own company.

Despite the fact that the Macintosh sold, but not as good as planned. Shareholders accused Steve Jobs of not creating competitive computers, and Jobs accused shareholders and company executives of raising the price of a Macintosh.

Jobs considered Scully to be the main villain, who had once been dragged from Pepsi. As a result of this confrontation, the board of directors selected John Scully as a more experienced leader capable of improving Apple's affairs.

In the same year, Jobs founds NeXT. Later, in 2005, speaking to Stanford graduates, Jobs said that dismissal from Apple was the best and right decision at that moment.

Collaboration with Scully does not bring Apple much success. All this time the company is balancing on the brink of survival. As a result, after a significant drop in Apple's market value, the board of directors dismisses John Scully.

Jobs at NeXT is also doing a shaky job. As a result, Apple’s new management decides that the company needs dramatic changes and that only Jobs can initiate these changes.

It is worth noting that NeXT was doing so badly that Jobs had to shut down all computer production, leaving only software development afloat.

Subsequently, the work done became the basis of the Mac OS.

1996 - Returns to the director's chair Apple. The company buys the Jobs company NeXT, paying for it no less than 430 million dollars. I note that over the years of its existence, Apple has repeatedly absorbed various companies operating in the IT technology market - Siri, Anobit Technologies, etc.

From 1996 to 1998  Apple has undergone dramatic changes. It was decided to abandon many projects. More than 3,000 employees were laid off. The company focused its efforts on four main areas:

• desktop models for professionals Power Macintosh G3
• portable computer models for professionals PowerBook G3
• stationary models of computers for ordinary iMac consumers
• portable computer models for ordinary iBook consumers

1998   - As a result of the work done in the arena of computer technology, a new futuristic model iMac G3 appears, which became the fastest-selling computer in the history of Apple.

In parallel, Jobs begins to harbor the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating his own chain of stores in which apple products will be sold. He was not happy with the fact that Apple products are on the same shelf with other brands.

He wanted his products to be sold in a special way. So that sellers do not put it on a par with other goods.

And this is another highlight that makes Apple products superior to their competitors. When you believe that your product is special and try to make it so, then it will be so. Jobs did not like mediocrity. And he always tried to combine elegant design and the latest technology in his products.

2000   - the collapse of the dotcoms. Dotcom literally translates as “.com”. Dotcoms are companies related to the Internet. Apple has never been a dotcom company. But it was very dependent on this market, because Apple products are aimed at PC users, and with the advent of the Internet, “computer and the Internet” became practically inseparable words.

So, in 2000, the United States collapsed companies related to the Internet. The value of shares of such companies began to fall, including the value of Apple shares.

This crisis has spread to other sectors of the economy. In general, there is an opinion that it was the collapse of the dotcoms that provoked the subsequent collapse of the world economy in 2007-2008, the consequences of which we still feel.

In more detail about the collapse of the dotcoms and the crisis, I wrote here:

Why am I now writing about the crisis? What does the crisis, dotcoms and Apple have to do with it, you might ask?

In fact, this is very important, because it was the crisis that changed the vector of Apple's development. It was the collapse of the dotcoms that made Steve Jobs look for new markets, thanks to which his company could not only survive, but also prosper.

As a result of the search for new technological solutions, such devices as iPod, iPhone, iPad appeared, and various software appeared that users of apple products love so much.

As planned by Jobs, the computer in the future should become a multifunctional complex, consisting not only of a monitor, system unit and keyboard, but also of various peripheral devices, such as a player, phone, etc.

Jobs began to implement his idea with the creation of high-quality software. among which I especially want to note the emergence of a universal iTunes media player.

It was with the advent of this software that Apple turned into one of the key players in the music market. The fact is that the music market was also going through hard times.

With the development of the Internet and the advent of the mp-3 format, pirates have bitten the music market. And the appearance of iTunes, or rather the iTunes Store. which will be discussed below, allowed to increase sales of legal content.

With the advent of iTunes, there was an urgent need for a music device that will work with this software. So there was an iPod.

2001 - Presentation of the iPod music player.

In parallel with the launch of the iPod, Apple opens the first two Apple Store. Experts predicted the failure of this idea, but as of September 2013, 413 stores were open and successfully operating in 14 countries of the world.

The Apple Store is not just a hardware store - it is a paradise for geeks!

2003 - presentation of the iTunes Store online music store.

The key feature of this store was that there it was possible to buy songs individually, and not with the whole album, as was previously accepted, as well as the fact that the main buyers were owners of apple products.

the iTunes Store predicted a million sales in its first 6 months of operation. As a result, a million songs were sold in 6 days of work.

2007 - The release of the iPhone smartphone, which was announced by Steve Jobs himself.

It was under his leadership that Apple was able to discover new market segments. In the same year, the company changed its official name from Apple Computer to just Apple, due to the entry into the consumer electronics market.

The appearance of the iPhone is due to the fact that with the development of mobile technology, the demand for cameras and digital cameras has fallen. The developers of mobile devices began to combine a phone, a camera and audio players.

Jobs understood that the market for audio players was doomed and would soon be consumed by phones that combined all of these devices. And then he set the task for his subordinates to develop a new phone that would combine all these functions and, according to the Apple tradition, it would be elegant and convenient.

Time magazine subsequently recognizes the iPhone as the invention of the year!

2008   - iPhone ranks 2nd in the ranking of the most useful modern technologies, according to PCWorld.

2008 - Apple launches the world's thinnest laptop called MacBook Air

Two thousandth became a real triumph for Jobs and his team. Almost every year, Apple surprises the world with something and makes its army of fans more and more.

2010 - Apple launches iPad tablet computer.

The most interesting thing is that the idea of \u200b\u200btablet computers with a touch screen was proposed back in 1988 by students of the University of Illinois. They then worked on the theme of “What will be the personal computer of 2000” as part of a contest held by Apple.

By the way, he looked like this:

In the same 2010 IPhone 4 takes 1st place in the list of best phones in the nominations "Best Seller" and "Image" according to Mobile-Review.com.

2011   - In August, Steve Jobs leaves for health reasons, and in November he was gone.

The love of his work has largely ensured the company such success. The “parent” inherited part of his individual character traits to his “apple” - this is a love of innovation, creativity, courage and style.

Since september 2012  years on the official sale goes iPhone 5.

They joke that the iPhone is the smartest phone, and it has the highest percentage of owners who are much dumber than their phone)

I don’t know about the IQ of the smartphone owners, but the fact that there are many of them is a fact. The number of pre-orders for the fifth iPhone per day has reached 2 million!

Probably among the lucky owners of the smartphone is Evgeny Chichvarkin, the former founder of Euroset, now living in London. According to him, he intended to change the iPhone 4S to iPhone 5 as soon as its sales begin in Foggy Albion.

As for Russia, here Apple smartphones have won a wide audience. Although some argue that the iPhone would sell better if it went under the translated name “iMobilko” in the Russian market

However, Apple is already widely known in our territory. She positions herself as a manufacturer of simple devices designed for the convenience, communication and entertainment of people. Although all this technology of the future, sold already in the present, is very, very expensive.

If you look at the official Russian site www.apple.com/ru, you can see that the keywords in the description of the company's products are not dry technical specifications, but enthusiastic glossy epithets.

Apple is not just “12 megapixels, 17 inches, 3 GB”, it has unlimited possibilities, amazing quality, excellent display and the most advanced operating system in the world!

Everything from Apple works automatically, easily and invisibly - laptops are “faster than you can imagine,” iPhones “do everything for you” and iPods with which “sword fights are becoming more acute, and zombie hunting is more effective!”

Apple protects its technical development very zealously. The company monitors the quality of its brand, opens branded stores and creates an entire ecosystem of software and numerous applications.

Regarding Apple, they say that the company "has patented a patent to patent a patent." It’s a completely true remark, because as of October 2012, the company received 5440 patents for its inventions and design projects!

Protecting intellectual property rights, Apple is suing either one company or the other, while winning trials or losing them. So, Nokia accused Apple of violating 10 patents, and Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung. She, however, was found not guilty by a British court, but patent battles continue.

Now Apple has the highest profitability, both in terms of sales, and in terms of prestige and design. The company is not going to stop there. In fact, Apple “bears fruit” with real “golden apples”, and I will wait with interest to see what other “i-gadget” the company’s developers will surprise us with. So, Apple, a step after you.

P.S.   By the way, do you know what the prefix “i” means in the name of Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac)? The answer is simple - internet