Apple's Hits and Misses 1977-Present

The release of the Apple iPad has caused a divided camp as to its purpose and need to the general public. Many are laughing about the name itself, iPad, because some find it offensive due to its feminine hygiene references-a pad. Apple may have dropped the ball at least with the name, but the product's usefulness, itself is in question.

We already have a host of other portable items that do what the iPad can and which are more portable. Small netbooks or laptops are $500, the base price of the iPad, and let's face it, the laptop can do more.

Apple has not always been successful with its products, to wit:

1. 1983- Apple Lisa computer released with Mac technology. Failed for many reasons but the price of $10,000 was the main culprit.

2. 1993- Apple releases the Newton, an early PDA, which quickly bit the dust because of its poor handwriting recognition capabilities.

3. 1994 - Apple launches the Pippin. A Nintendo like box for games only. Software issues killed this.

4. 2000 - The Power MacG4 Cube wows. Visually cool and mysterious, it lacked the power and capabilities for the $1300 price without a monitor to compete with laptops and desktops.

5. 2007 - Apple TV was a flat box for getting Internet videos on TV. Hmmm, why? Just watch them on the computer or phone! Even Steve Jobs called it a "hobby" of his.

6. 2010 - The ipad. Too early to toss into the failure column, it has a lot of consumers asking why should they buy it. This product may end up being used mostly in corporate and training settings. Unlike the iPhone, it will never be a huge seller

Of course, Apple has been spot on with the following:

1. 1977 - Apple II with color. It cost $1300 and proved a computer could do more than just play games.

2. 1984 - Macintosh cost $2500 and the first to introduce the mouse and GUI to the mass public, DOS commands were no longer needed. Just point and click.

3. 1998 - The cool iMac with multiple colors appealed to many PC users for its power.

4. 2001 - IPod. A simple digital music player that was the envy of anyone who did not own one. Apple's huge success was bought by just about every teenager on earth and then copied by Chinese pirates.

5. 2007 -The iPhone. A slow start but a killer device that simply redefined how and what a cell phone should be. Who hasn't copied it?