2007 – With iTunes just signing a deal with FOX and their content for iTunes, stocks pushed upward to $200 a share. It was the first time Apple hit that barrier, and promptly dropped after. The company has been up and down, and in mid-2008 were at only $90 a share. However, after March 6th, 2008, the stock started to rise to the $400 / Share mark. Since then Apple climbed up to $700/share and then on June 9th, 2014 the stock was split 7-to-1. Currently, the stock is at $111 (technically $777 for those who purchased before the split).
The National Machine Accountants Association is founded (later becomes AITP)
<a class="zem_slink" title="eGroups” href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eGroups” rel=”wikipedia”>eGroups CEO Michael Klien and daughter were killed in a small plane accident
1926 – The term “Photon” is coined. Of course a photon is the basic “unit” of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. Newton Lewis is the one who coins the term.
Intel announced in 1995 the next generation processor – the Pentium Pro. Unlike the Pentium, the Pentium Pro was a chip designed for 32-bit architecture, so Windows 95 and Windows NT could run true. The processor ran between 150-200 MHz, with a bus speed of 60 MHz (for 150 or 180 MHz processor) or 66MHz (for 166 or 200 MHz processor). The processor used a .35 micron process and prices started at $974 to $1989.
1997 – Gil Amelio just was just removed as CEO of Apple. People were calling for Steve Jobs to return, but others thought that would be a bad investment. At a Garner Symposium, Michael Dell was asked what he would do with Apple. He came back in saying:
“I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.” – Michael Dell
Had Apple done that, we might see a completely different market out there. Then again, we might just see the OS X as the NeXT OS on a regular PC – with NeXTpods and NeXTpad (instead of iPad).Steve Jobs had always run a war of words with Dell. However, this comment could have actually been a fuel for Jobs fire. In fact, in 2006, Jobs sent an email to employees after Apple surpassed Dell in market share. It said:
Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn’t perfect at predicting the future. Based on today’s stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. – Steve Jobs
2011 – Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made one of the biggest blunders of 2011 when he announced not only was the DVD section of Netflix getting a new name, but also that section was up for sale. Qwikster brought a lot of attention rapidly for two reasons – 1. It was close to Amway’s spin-off Quixster, and 2. Qwikster used to be the twitter handle of a pot-smoking Elmo character. Since then, Hastings apologized and the company reeled back the statement. However, it was not before they lost 2/3 of their stock and over 800,000 subscribers. Currently, their stock is at $57 a share (from $295 back in July 2011).
1995 – The National Cash Register Company (NCR) Started in 1884 with Point of Sales registers. The company deals in all types of POS, but had financial problems. In 1991, AT&T purchased NCR for $7.4 billion. NCR has been the only AT&T acquisition that retained their original name. on Sept. 201995 AT&T would spin NCR back into it’s own company due to the antitrust issues put forward
1985 – After an interesting power struggle with John Sculley, Steve Jobs decides to throw in the towel and tenders his resignation at Apple. He announces at the Board meeting he and other low level employees will be starting a new company – NeXT. The next day, Jobs tells John Sculley that Bud Tribble, Dan’l Lewin, George Crow, Rich Page, and Susan Barnes will be leaving to join him.
Jobs new company would end up becoming the foundation of Mac when it is bought by Apple in 1996 and Steve Jobs comes back to become CEO.
August 18, 1992: Wang Computers had been growing, but their financial outlook didn’t seem good. In 1992, they filed for Bankruptcy protection. They eventually got out of bankruptcy, but not before they changed the scope of the business. They changed to Wang Global, then in 1999 were bought out by “Gentronics”
2011 – CEO Leo Apatheker made an announcement HP will be focusing on Enterprise, and putting the PC division on sale. This sale did not include the WebOS software. He instantly discontinued the HP TouchPad tablet and Pre series of smart phone. By the evening, most stores would discount the TouchPad to $99. This brought a lot of controversy, as some people would go to buy a TouchPad at Best Buy and they were denied as HP told them to ship the units back. BTW – HP was incorporated back in 1947 on this day.
Datallegro – a warehouse application – had been sued by XPrime, where Cary Jardin (CEO of Datallegro) used to work. Datallegro was in mid acquisition by Microsoft at the time. The acquisition completed on Sept 16, 2008. The suit was analyzed by critics as “not relevant”. No word on how that suit ended.