In 1996, when Apple was struggling for a foothold in the personal computing market and its efforts to upgrade its operating system were going nowhere, the company bought Jobs' second computer company, NeXT, returning the prodigal son to the fold, and later to the helm.
Jobs, whose charismatic persona is the face of Apple, led the company's resurrection with one breakthrough after another -- first with the iMac, then the slick new OS X operating system, then the iPod music player, then the market-leading online iTunes store.
A side venture Jobs acquired during his absence from Apple, Pixar Animation Studios Inc, had also put the already celebrated high-tech executive in the middle of Hollywood. The connection to Pixar, which is now being acquired by The Walt Disney Co, has since bolstered Apple's rising star in the world of digital entertainment and consumer electronics.
Apple's iPod and iTunes franchises have popularized the notion of music -- and more recently, video -- on the go. They also spawned the modern explosion in podcasts, or self-made broadcasts of audio programming over the Internet to portable gadgets.
Today, Apple's well-honed, self-propelled reputation as David fighting the Goliath of Microsoft and the rest of the PC industry belies reality.
Apple may still hold roughly only a 4 percent share of the worldwide PC market, but analysts say its current operating system set the bar for rival Microsoft with innovative features, including 3D-like imaging and a side pane for "widget" applications.
Many analysts expect that Apple's market-dominating iPod -- which works with both Windows and Macintosh machines -- and its new computers based on Intel Corp chips -- the same used by Windows -- will help grow Apple's slice of the PC market.
Meanwhile, Apple's financial health is better than ever. It posted record revenue of nearly US$14 billion for fiscal 2005 and is armed with more than US$8 billion in cash.
"Apple will continue to be a force in portable music and video, and desktop innovation," Bajarin said. "Its key challenge now is how it will extend the Mac more into the digital lifestyle, into the living room and the rest of the house, as well as to other portable devices."
No matter how well the company does with its future endeavors, many things people do today -- from desktop publishing to music downloads -- will long be regarded as the fruits of Apple.
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