Today, most people can easily recognize Apple Inc.'s simple logo, a graphic of an apple with an apparent bite (or byte?) taken out of it -- whether they remember the early days when the apple was resplendent in rainbow colors, or if they are simply familiar with the 21st-century monochromatic version. In 1976, however, the company’s very first logo was something entirely different. It featured a detailed image of Sir Isaac Newton sitting beneath an apple tree, with a highlighted apple ready to drop on his noggin and help him understand the laws of gravity. The first logo was designed by Apple co-founder Ronald Wayne and featured the phrase: “Newton ... A mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought ... alone.”
Apple of their eyes:
- Back when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were batting around ideas about what to name their new venture, Jobs offered “Apple.” Wozniak laughed, countering with, “It’s a computer company, not a fruit store.”
- The rainbow logo was used from 1976 to 1998. The stylized apple represented Jobs’ desire that people “think different,” and the rainbow visually cued Apple II’s revolutionary 16-color display.
- The monochrome logo that followed coincided with the introduction of new Mac computers that were manufactured with a metal casing, instead of a plastic one.