Macintosh
For us, this is mainly due to the introduction of a graphical user interface, which ensured a whole new experience - the interaction with icons proving a huge hit over more conventional methods such as DOS, whereby typing commands was the norm for running programmes. It’s rather analogous to the evolution of the sandwich, whereby only after the development (and successful marketing) does everyone think it blindingly obvious. And whereas it took a certain spark (and gambling addiction) for the Earl to place meat between bread, it also required a certain amount of gumption from Apple. The new UI, as well as the introduction of the mouse and 128k of memory, made this a classic.
PowerBook 100 series
iMac G3
iPod/iTunes
iPhone/App Store
It wasn’t all beer and skittles for the iPhone at launch in the beginning, however, as soon after the first incarnation went on sale ($499 for 4GB and $599 for 8GB) Jobs decided to stop selling the 4GB and cut the price of 8GB by $200 in September - initiating an angry response from early adopters. Despite this, the iPhone was a massive success mainly due to its competent touchscreen, and an incredibly easy user interface which helped it become a mobile game changer. However, it was only when Apple, reluctantly, decided to open up the App Store to third-party developers that things really started to get moving, arguably, making the iPhone into the massive success it is today.
