10. Design Sense

The original iMac came in a variety of flavors, including “Strawberry,” “Blueberry,” and an ethereal-sounding skin called “Flower Power.”

Back in the day, computers were often limited to the stale outfitting of a beige chassis, and as their innards got faster, their bodies stayed bloated. But Apple changed all this in 1998 with the introduction of the iMac G3. The candy-colored plastic shell helped distinguish Apple’s focus on design -- something other computer companies hadn’t yet considered. Apple followed suit with the iBook in 1999 and eventually the PowerBook G4 in 2001, a refreshed notebook with a longer battery life and a speedy processor inside a sleek aluminum body.

Since then, the hits just keep coming -- who can forget the small, sleek lines of the Mac mini, the iPhone, the iPod, and even the new Apple TV? All these luscious devices prove that Apple has mastered the art of designing gear that perfectly marries simple yet sexy form with powerful function.

9. Product-Announcement Events

Everytime Apple holds one of its now-legendary product announcements, the tech world stands still. Jobs & Co. know how to tug at our nerdy heartstrings, pacing their words and selective unveilings until the excitement becomes palpable. Don’t even get us started on those “one more things.”

8. The iPod

22 models later, we still love the iPod.

In 2001, Apple made what would turn out to be a huge leap from computers to consumer electronics. The first iPods were Mac-only and held a mere 1,000 songs, but we can’t imagine listening to anything else. Besides, without the iPod, there’d be no iPhone. Rock on!

7. Ruthless Futurism

Apple is not only ceaseless in its innovation -- it’s ruthless in its pursuit of it. Apple has helped to usher in technologies like USB, Wi-Fi, and solid-state memory while inventing its own tech, as seen, for example, in the Magic Mouse and unibody laptops. But the flip side of the coin exists as well -- the Cupertino crew eliminates support the instant they deem something outdated. Flash, Macintosh TV, the Mighty Mouse, floppy drives, FireWire, and even optical drives have all fallen to this sword, often before users were ready to part with them. Ultimately Apple’s single-minded devotion to improvement makes the industry more competitive…and leaves other companies always trying to keep up.

6. Mac OS X

OS X, a new beginning.

By taking the raw power of NeXTStep and BSD and rolling it into a user-friendly OS, Apple created a Unix-based system that’s usable for novices yet still gives super-geeks a powerful base. When released, it was a new robust OS for a new robust company. Today, we’re stoked to see what Lion has in store for us next.

5. The App Store

The App Store has exploded in less than three years.

As much as the iPhone changed the game, the App Store -- which came a year later in 2008 -- changed the iPhone from, well, a fancy phone to a handheld computer that can do practically anything, from pointing out constellations in the night sky to making fart sounds.

4. The iPhone

And we used to think BlackBerrys were cool.

The iPhone has been blowing our minds since its dramatic introduction on January 9, 2007. Touchscreen interface, amazing web browsing, and effortless multimedia capabilities -- who knew a nearly buttonless device could do so much, even before the App Store. It’s the king of the smartphones, and we’re just its faithful subjects.

3. Steve Jobs

The man and the Mac.

Genius, tyrant, savior. He founded Apple with friend Steve Wozniak in the ’70s. He was ousted in the ’80s and he returned in the ’90s to save the company. And make no bones about it: Steve saved Apple.

He has the uncanny ability to know what we want before we even know. He pushes the company to make products that are more than popular—they’re game-changers.

From a history of walling himself off from the average Joe to his recent email exchanges with users, journalists, developers, and the occasional spoiled student, it’s difficult to describe the man with a single word. But we’ll try: he’s Steve.

2. The First Macintosh

The mother of all Macs.

Yep, that right there is the very first Mac computer, and if you’re old enough to remember its launch -- as many of us at Mac|Life are -- seeing one still spikes a moment or three of awed nostalgia. Its specs are even more awesome: 128KB of DRAM, a 9-inch black-and-white CRT screen, a mouse and keyboard, and a single-sided 3.5-inch floppy-disk drive. Priced at a whopping $2,495, it shipped with System 1.0 and included MacPaint and MacWrite as bundled software.
 
Even with the backing of Ridley Scott’s famous “1984” Super Bowl commercial, it sold a little slowly (70,000 units in its first 100 days of availability), and while Macs couldn’t really be called successful until the days of the Mac Plus and Mac SE, the original Mac was still the first mainstream personal computer with a graphical user interface, and that makes it an epic part of computing history.

1. The Apple Community

We are Apple.

Sure, the easy pick would have been Steve Jobs. Like we mentioned on the previous page, he started the company with Woz, got shown to the door, and returned to save Apple. But there wouldn’t have been a company to save if not for the loyal, often-quirky, and always awesome Apple community.

We’ve been called cult members, fanatics, and worst of all, people who don’t know how to use a “real” computer (the insinuation being that using Windows and enduring all the problems that come with that system is a technological “red badge of courage”). Of course, we know there is a better way. An easier way. A way to get actual work done without having to reconfigure our audio drivers for the 30th time. Our allegiance to the company and its products has been and continues to be ridiculed. As if wanting a product that just works is a personality flaw.

At our worst, we’re blinded by Steve’s reality-distortion field and we defend Apple’s bad decisions. Like sticking with the PowerPC chip architecture when it was clear that IBM wasn’t interested in pushing the chip speed forward. At our best, we’ve gathered at Macworld Expo and in MUGs to celebrate our platform of choice. We steer family members towards Macs, knowing that the experience will be an enjoyable one. We’ll help a stranger with an iPhone problem.

We’ve weathered the storm in good times and in bad. We continued to believe in the company even when it decided we needed 10 versions of the Performa. We gathered on BBSs, AOL, and IRC before Facebook and Twitter. We lined up for iPods before the rest of the world caught on to their brilliance.

Apple may be a company, but it’s the community that’s gathered around that company that makes it special. We’ve sold more Macs for Apple than any commercial because we believe in the products. We stick together when times are tough, and we share a sense of pride when the company releases something spectacular. And we appreciate the legions of creative indie developers and peripheral-makers who continue to make the kind of smart, well-designed software and accessories that fit us like gloves.

That community is why we are here. Look around -- do you see a Dell magazine? Even the Windows-centric magazines talk about the Mac. Mac|Life, like Apple, is here because of that community and its desire to make the most of Apple’s products. Wherever you live, that community’s reach is a magazine or a few mouse clicks away. Because we are everywhere, and we are Apple.