d then burn them to CDs. All this was part of Apple's new corporate strategy, developed in the face of a massive slow down in the Technology industry: Apple would take advantage of the explosion of personal electronic devices--CD-players, MP3 players, digital cameras, DVD-players, etc.--by building Mac-only applications that added value to those devices. Just as iMovie had added tremendous value to Digital Cameras, iDVD would add value to Digital Cameras and to DVD-players, and iTunes would add value to CD and MP3 players. It was Apple's hope that making the Mac the "Digital Hub" of the new "Digital Lifestyle" would revitalize Apple's sales and guarantee the long-term security of the company.In May 2001, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would be opening a number of retail stores across America, selling not only Apple computers, but various third-party "digital lifestyle" products, such as mp3 players, digital still and video cameras, and PDAs. Apple also announced a major update to the iBook line, a smaller and lighter design that borrowed heavily from the PowerBook G4. In July, Apple refreshed iMacs and G4, and "suspended production" of the G4 Cube, ending months of speculation as to how Apple would deal with the Cube's resounding failure in the marketplace.The Fall of 2001 brought new revisions to the PowerBook G4 and iBook lines, the latter of which had sold extremely well during the summer. In late October, Apple announced its first non-computer product in several years, the iPod. The iPod was a small hard-drive-based digital music player, and represented Apple's first hardware addition to its "digital hub" strategy. At $399, the iPod faced a similar challenge to the woeful G4 Cube: it favored style and form-factor over price. Apple was taking another gamble by charging a premium for the iPod's superior design and small size.The Commodore VIC-20Riding on the success of the PET, Commodore drove its engineers to make computers that any...
