Apple named 10th-most disruptive idea in the past 85 years by Businessweek

Posted:
in General Discussion edited December 2014
The computer company started in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak has been named one of the most disruptive ideas in the last 85 years by influential magazine Businessweek, beating out modern-day essentials such as GPS, credit cards, and the modem.


An Apple I that sold at auction for $905,000. Source: Bonhams


Apple is the third-highest-ranked company to make the list, which was released as part of Businessweek's 85th anniversary issue. Google, ranked 6th, was the only technology company to best the Cupertino firm, while Wal-Mart took the top slot for a corporation, in 4th.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said in an accompanying interview that he knew from the beginning that the business would one day become something special.

"When we started the company, I knew that the computer was so far ahead of anything the rest of the world had ever seen," Wozniak told the magazine. "We knew we had a revolution. Everyone who joined Apple, this was the greatest thing in their life."

Wozniak went on to call the Apple I a "turning point in history," before downplaying the importance of one of the most famous Apple-related landmarks: Jobs's parents garage, which is now a protected historical site.

"The garage is a bit of a myth. We did no designs there, no breadboarding, no prototyping, no planning of products," he said. "We did no manufacturing there. The garage didn't serve much purpose, except it was something for us to feel was our home. We had no money. You have to work out of your home when you have no money."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 65
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    "Disrupt" and "disruption" are starting to be as hackneyed and overused as "paradigm shift".
  • Reply 2 of 65
    He said he knew it would be special but yet he left the company.. Right..
  • Reply 3 of 65
    How can a search engine on a computer be more revolutionary than the computer itself?
  • Reply 4 of 65
    How can a search engine on a computer be more revolutionary than the computer itself?

    Exactly. No Apple, no Google.
  • Reply 5 of 65
    The Apple I... another idea that HP had in their hands and didn't recognize it's value because it was designed by someone without a degree.... What a silly way to measure value.
  • Reply 6 of 65
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheRealTom View Post



    He said he knew it would be special but yet he left the company.. Right..



    Woz was a one trick pony. The Lisa/Macintosh were way out of his league as a hardware engineer. My son met him at the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana when he visited there for a conference. My son was working at the time in the Granger Engineering Library (h e was a civil engineering student) when Woz showed up. Nice guy according to reports.

  • Reply 7 of 65
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

     

    ...

    Apple is the third-highest-ranked company to make the list, which was released as part of Businessweek's 85th anniversary issue. Google, ranked 6th, was the only technology company to best the Cupertino firm, while Wal-Mart took the top slot for a corporation, in 4th.

    ...


     

    Uhhh, Google just made a better widget.  We already had search through Yahoo and Alta-Vista.

  • Reply 8 of 65
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member

    I don't remember seeing the laser printer on that list unless I overlooked it.  That would rank higher than Google.

     

    Apple may have introduced the best smart phone but Motorola paved the way for mobile phones.

  • Reply 9 of 65
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member

    How is Walmart a disruptive idea? They're just a big box store selling garbage from China. What did Google do to disrupt anything other than to force a supposedly free mobile OS on us so everyone and their mother could put out a cheap phone. Actually, how was/is Apple a disruptive idea? I must be missing something here that the article doesn't explain. 

     

    I checked out the top ten, http://www.businessweek.com/features/85ideas/#10, and this article is weird to say the least. 

     

    email at #47

    AK-47 at #26

    MacDonald's at #18, more disruptive to the world's health than people want to admit

    the Pill at #9, disrupted a lot of narrow-minded people but also slowed down the population explosion

    at least microchips at #2 and the jet engine at #1 make sense

  • Reply 10 of 65
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rob53 View Post

     

    How is Walmart a disruptive idea? They're just a big box store selling garbage from China. What did Google do to disrupt anything other than to force a supposedly free mobile OS on us so everyone and their mother could put out a cheap phone. Actually, how was/is Apple a disruptive idea? I must be missing something here that the article doesn't explain. 

     

    I checked out the top ten, http://www.businessweek.com/features/85ideas/#10, and this article is weird to say the least. 

     

    email at #47

    AK-47 at #26

    MacDonald's at #18, more disruptive to the world's health than people want to admit

    the Pill at #9, disrupted a lot of narrow-minded people but also slowed down the population explosion

    at least microchips at #2 and the jet engine at #1 make sense


     

    When you consider Walmart, think of Walmart of yesteryears.  First time I walked into one int he mid 80's, there were American flags everywhere and Made in America labels on everything.

     

    Apple's vision for a computer in the home is what took hold and became what we have today.

  • Reply 11 of 65
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    It's silly to say Aople is an "idea." Apple would be a footnote in history if not for Steve Jobs' relentless pursuits. GPS and credit cards are ideas, as is Google's PageRsnk algorithm, but companies are not.
  • Reply 12 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by baseballrob99 View Post



    How can a search engine on a computer be more revolutionary than the computer itself?

     

    I was thinking the same thing. As far as I'm aware, what projects they haven't copied from Apple have failed.

  • Reply 13 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tundraboy View Post



    "Disrupt" and "disruption" are starting to be as hackneyed and overused as "paradigm shift".



    "Disruptive" has always be hackneyed, and wrong as something positive. Disruptive is to making progress as taking a sledgehammer to your TV and calling it fixing the TV. 

  • Reply 14 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rob53 View Post

     

    I checked out the top ten, http://www.businessweek.com/features/85ideas/#10, and this article is weird to say the least. 

     


    This Businessweek article is a total clusterf@ck!  Absolute rubbish!

  • Reply 15 of 65

    I cannot give this list any credibility when it does not contain ARPANET/INTERNET. As far as tech companies and their core ideas being disruptive, Cisco should maybe have made the list. 

  • Reply 16 of 65
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    I cannot give this list any credibility when it does not contain ARPANET/INTERNET. As far as tech companies and their core ideas being disruptive, Cisco should maybe have made the list. 

    And Motorola for the 'mobile phone'.
  • Reply 17 of 65
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    What a ridiculous list.

     

    Usually, when a magazine or media outlet has a countdown of the best 100 songs or best 100 inventions or whatever, they always have questionable inclusions on that list, and this list is no different. The list was probably made by just a few people, so it merely represents the opinions of a few people, and there's often things that are forgotten and things that do get included, but do not deserve to even be on the list.

  • Reply 18 of 65
    apple ][ wrote: »
    What a ridiculous list.

    Usually, when a magazine or media outlet has a countdown of the best 100 songs or best 100 inventions or whatever, they always have questionable inclusions on that list, and this list is no different. The list was probably made by just a few people, so it merely represents the opinions of a few people, and there's often things that are forgotten and things that do get included, but do not deserve to even be on the list.

    Leo Laporte and John Dvorak (both with a publishing and media background) have previously said exactly where these idiotic lists come from and it's even dumber than you think.
  • Reply 19 of 65
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    And Motorola for the 'mobile phone'.

    And the Jeep but not the Model T or the Volkswagen?
  • Reply 20 of 65
    Exactly. No Apple, no Google.

    How can Jane Fonda's workout tape (aerobics on VHS) beat the smartphone? But it did. So much for taking this list seriously.
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