Classic Review of Previous Apple WWDC Conferences: Transformation from Software and Hardware to Experience
Another scorching summer has arrived, and after several days of revelations, Apple officially announced that its 34th World Developers Conference (WWDC 2023) will be held from June 6th to June 10th Beijing time. The main purpose of the Apple WWDC Developer Conference is to enable Apple to showcase the latest software and technology to developers.
For 34 years, almost every year has seen some technology or product deeply ingrained in people's hearts. Now let's take a look at some classic moments from the past.
1983: The first WWDC, the world's first graphical interface computer - Apple Lisa released
At the first WWDC conference, Apple released the world's first graphical interface computer - Apple Lisa. This computer named after Steve Jobs' eldest daughter is the world's first personal computer to use both a graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse, marking a significant milestone in history.
Lisa, as a groundbreaking computer, can be said that without Lisa, there would be no Macintosh (in the early stages of Mac development, many system software was designed on Lisa). She has a 16 bit CPU, mouse, hard drive, and an operating system that supports graphical user interface and multitasking. And 7 commercial software were randomly bundled. Progressiveness introduced the graphical user interface and mouse operation to the world, which really changed the way we use computers.
1988: Orientation for providing display and printing interfaces for early MacOS systems
In the second WWDC in 1988, John Scully, who was then Apple's CEO, gathered a small group of Apple employees and drew a dog named ClarustheDogcrow on the button of the original clothes. This cartoon character was designed by legendary graphic designer Susan Kare from Apple, and became the orientation used by users to display printed pages in early MacOS systems.
1990: QuickTime media player officially debuted, shifting focus to mass products
This year's WWDC conference was deeply rooted in people's hearts and was also the first time that users gained popularity. Because in this year, Apple shifted its focus to mass products, everyone referred to WWDC as the first developer conference.
The QuickTime media player released this year is not only a media player, but also a complete multimedia architecture that can be used for the creation, production, and distribution of various media. It can also capture media in real-time, synthesize media programmatically, import and export existing media, and have multiple links such as editing and production, compression, distribution, and user playback. The emergence of QuickTime had a long-term impact on later media players.
1991: Mac OS 7 released
After nearly a decade of development, in 1991, a more practical System 7 was released, now known as Mac OS 7. With Mac OS 7, we can perform multitasking, file sharing, drag and drop support, and recycle bin operations on laptops.
The 7.1 update the following year also added many new applications and features. For example, the "Create Alias" feature (similar to the "Shortcut" feature later found in Microsoft Windows). It has provided great help for the development of computers and laid a solid foundation for the development of Mac OS.
In 1995, version 7.5.1 of System 7 was released, and the Mac system began to be renamed Mac OS. System 7.5.1 has become Mac OS 7.
1997: 'Think Different' officially launched
1997 was an extraordinary year, during which Steve Jobs regained control of Apple and regarded the renewal of Apple's image as a top priority. Therefore, at this edition of WWDC, Steve Jobs, who had been away from Apple for 12 years, returned and Apple launched a "Think different" advertising strategy, officially announcing that Apple will once again usher in the era of Steve Jobs.
At the press conference, Steve Jobs talked about his vision for Apple and the future technology industry, and the famous Think Different was proposed that year. Although 'Think Different' is grammatically incorrect, the correct word to use should be 'Differently'. However, the Jobs team skillfully used this syntax error to emphasize their own novelty. In the subsequent development, we can also see that this novelty is not a wrong novelty, but a planned and distinctive innovation.
2000: One of the most advanced computer systems in the world Mac OS X
As the 2000 approached, the technology industry began to develop rapidly, and during this year, Apple also experienced rapid growth. On WWDC, Apple abandoned its Mac OS 9 system and replaced it with a redefined new system - Mac OS X, becoming one of the world's most advanced computer systems to date.
The first generation of Mac OS X was codenamed "Cheetah" and aimed for fast speed. This system greatly improves memory management and improves the running speed of the computer. Allowing more software to run simultaneously essentially eliminates the possibility of one program crashing and causing other programs to crash.
2010: iOS system improved, shocking the global release of iPhone 4
In 2010, WWDC was once again a milestone in Apple's development history.
Apple first announced the iPhone OS system in 2007, originally designed for use on Apple's own phones. At that time, it was almost identical to the operating system of Mac OS and belonged to a Unix like commercial operating system. In 2010, at WWDC, Apple officially announced that this system was renamed iOS.
At the same time, iMovie and Face Time available for iPhone have also been released. Since that year, the iOS system has been far ahead of domestic mobile phone manufacturers' systems, and until now, the iOS system can be said to be the most advanced, smooth, and complete system in the world.
In addition, during this year, Steve Jobs, who had been absent from the WWDC conference for a year, returned to the stage and all users of Lotus brought the legendary mobile phone - iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 was equipped with a 3.5-inch Retina display screen and removed the usual number keys from the phone at the time, taking the phone a big step forward towards smartphones and becoming a design that many phone manufacturers were eager to imitate at that time. On iPhone 4, the iPhone began to support WiFi, enabling internet sharing.
2011: Steve Jobs' Last WWDC
After the release of the iOS system and iPhone 4 in 2010, it caused a bloody storm in the digital industry, and many users began to make purchases. In this year, "fruit fans" also began to appear. In the 2011 WWDC, Steve Jobs conducted up to 250 optimizations for iOS 5 systems based on iOS 4 at the conference.
New reminder features, integration with Twitter, more user-friendly Safari browser, keyboard optimization, and the most stunning support for OTA wireless upgrades allow users to achieve synchronous upgrades without needing to connect.
In addition, two practical software, iCloud and OS X Lion, have been released. But in this year, Steve Jobs' health deteriorated significantly. On August 24th of the same year, he resigned from his position as Apple CEO and passed away on October 5th. Therefore, this WWDC also became Steve Jobs' last WWDCA conference.
2012: MacBook Pro equipped with retinal display screen
The heavyweight new product in 2012 was the new version of MacBook Pro, which is known as the "MacBook Pro with Retina Display".
The most significant evolution of Retina MacBook Pro is the removal of mechanical hard drives and optical drives, allowing users to fully utilize flash memory chips, significantly improving read and write performance, while bidding farewell to the previous era where users can upgrade MacBook Pro hardware themselves.
2013: The largest upgrade in iOS system history
In this year, Apple launched the largest upgrade in the history of iOS development. The new icons and colors of iOS 7 adopt a popular flattened style. The camera application has also undergone a major upgrade, with the ability to change the shooting mode by swiping the screen. At the same time, a new filter function has been added to make users' photos look better.
At the press conference, Apple also launched iCloud Keychain software, which simplifies the user's login process.
2016: Full USB-C MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
Although MacBook Pro in previous years may have better performance than Air, its weight, thickness, and buttons are still highly criticized. In order to reduce weight and thickness, this generation of MacBook Pro underwent significant changes in appearance, with thinner thickness, larger touchpad, and smaller volume. The MacBook Pro keyboard was all replaced with the second-generation butterfly keyboard used in 2015 New MacBook.
In addition, Apple has made a keyboard revolution on the new MacBook Pro, which has been around for nearly 40 years. It has replaced the shortcut buttons above the keyboard with a touch strip, officially known as the Touch Bar. On the Touch Bar, in addition to using shortcut keys, the displayed "buttons" will also automatically switch depending on the software. And it can recognize Touch ID.
In order to reduce weight, the 2016 version of MacBook reduced its interfaces and replaced all USB interfaces with USB-C interfaces, a design that has been used to this day. Although it has faster transmission speed and better charging compatibility, the reduction of interfaces has also made many users feel troublesome, and whether design updates will be carried out is still a major concern for users at present.
2020: Due to the impact of the epidemic, online recording was adopted for the first time
After years of improving and optimizing Apple's system, the 2020 Apple system has played a leading role in almost all mobile phone systems. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, the WWDC 20 conference had to be held through online recording. Although Apple did not release any hardware products at this year's conference, it did update the top 5 operating systems in one go. The most closely watched system is the iOS14 system, which has added a lot of content both in terms of UI interface and functionality: tile like widgets, a resource library for organizing all applications, and optimization of interfaces such as Siri and calls.
2022: iOS 16 with mixed reviews
Why are there mixed reviews of iOS 16 systems this year? Because in previous years, iOS systems were significantly ahead of Android systems, but since iOS 13/14, every generation of upgrades has been described by users as a cold potato, and some features have been left over by Android users.
The iOS 16 system has even pushed this statement to a climax. Customized lock screen interface, new information features, home album, CarPlay, etc. Objectively speaking, although it is indeed a poorly used system on Android to some extent, it is indeed a significant update for iOS users. The newly designed lock screen interface with a new layout, the new CarPlay, further expanded the number of pre installed applications that can be deleted, and added functions such as "search", "health", and "clock", Let many users shout: "Truly fragrant.
2023: Will the user experience be further improved?
Since the first WWDC Conference in 1983, WWDC has gradually become an authoritative event for global developers to understand Apple systems and software updates, and its influence and attention have also become increasingly high. How to encourage users to voluntarily upgrade in a highly mature situation is a matter that has left mobile phone manufacturers racking their brains.
This year's WWDC conference has also been warming up for a long time. At this year's WWDC conference, WWDC 23 will bring new iOS 17, Mac OS 14, and more. In addition, the system xrOS of the new head display device may also be announced this time!
After experiencing the rumors and rumors of iOS 16, Apple has changed its update policy and once again focused on user experience. Firstly, the control center may undergo major changes, and the UI style will be adjusted to update the most commonly used aspects of users' daily lives.
The Lingdong Island of the iPhone 14 Pro series was a sensation, but due to compatibility issues, it was regrettable. It is reported that in addition to the application software, Apple may integrate Siri animation into Lingdong Island in terms of basic functions, and no longer block the screen below. The pairing pop-up of wireless headphones may also be integrated into Lingdong Island.
In addition to the system, highly anticipated headsets may also appear, allowing users to see both the real environment around them and virtual imaging, making their technology experience more closely related to life.
For the WWDC conference, there is actually a phrase from Apple Insider that is very relevant: Apple has always been committed to providing third-party developers and developers with a deeper understanding of the strategic direction of future software platforms on WWDC, with the aim of persuading them to invest more time and energy on this platform to create more services and apps.
Indeed, during these years of WWDC conferences, Apple has become more sophisticated in terms of software, hardware, and systems. If we want to break through at this time, it must be through direct communication with developers and real users. From the direction shift in recent years, it can be seen that Apple is also truly focusing on user experience. The 2023 WWDC is just an opportunity for new technological development, allowing "innovation" and user experience to jointly support a new technological ecosystem.
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