Apple's 50th Anniversary: impact on computing and culture

Apple's 50th Anniversary: impact on computing and culture

Apple celebrated its 50th anniversary Wednesday, a company known for innovation that has changed the way people work and live.

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple celebrated its 50th anniversary Wednesday, a company known for innovation that has changed the way people work and live.

From Apple's headquarters in Cupertino to celebrations and parties around the world, the story of Apple's 50 years in Silicon Valley comes with personal stories from people who've grown up with its products.

Janelle Graves is one user who donated her first Apple computer to an exhibit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

"I had a sort of form of dyslexia where I would write things backwards, and so my dad thought giving me a computer might help with that. And sure enough, it really did. After that, I got all A's," Graves said smiling as she pointed to the old computer.

Computer History Museum exhibits rare prototypes

Dig deeper:

Hansen Hsu, a curator at the CHM and a former Apple engineer, helped create the special 50th anniversary exhibit. 

It showcases rare prototypes of Apple products and a history of the company and its founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

"Apple's 50th anniversary is a big milestone," Hsu said. "It's right at that period when personal computing is just emerging."

The backstory:

Hsu noted that Wozniak originally built the Apple computer for himself, not as a commercial product, and Jobs saw its potential.

"He built it for himself. He wasn't thinking about selling it as a product. But his friend Steve Jobs was the guy who realized, 'Oh hey, we can sell this thing,'" Hsu said.

That partnership became a Silicon Valley powerhouse.

The exhibit shows the timeline and key products that helped define Apple. One case holds a prototype of the Lisa computer that debuted in 1983. 

It was followed by the landmark Macintosh launch in 1984, which established Apple as a major player in personal computing.

The company went on to introduce the iPod, iPad and, in 2007, the iPhone, along with an App Store that opened a new world of capabilities to users.

"A lot of users were actually jailbreaking their iPhones to install apps that people had written," Hsu said. "There was all this enthusiasm because what people understood was the iPhone was a computer in your pocket."

Apple's expansion

Apple's product line eventually moved to PowerBooks, iPods, iPad tablet computers, and has evolved into other industries such as banking with ApplePay and content production with AppleTV.

What they're saying:

Visitors at the exhibit reflected on the company's impact.

"It's very popular. Most people have iPhones, so it's crazy that Apple is 50 years," Eivind Nyquist Borgeraas, a visitor from Norway, said.

Sergio Vasquez of Compton said Apple "helps in a lot of ways...entertainment, education."

An estimated 2.5 billion people use Apple products worldwide.