Editing Apple II (original) (section)

==Reception==
[[File:Apple II advertisement Dec 1977 page 2.jpg|thumb|Advertisement for Apple II (1977)]]
Jesse Adams Stein wrote, "As the first company to release a 'consumer appliance' micro-computer, Apple Computer offers us a clear view of this shift from a ''machine'' to an ''appliance''." But the company also had "to negotiate the attitudes of its potential buyers, bearing in mind social anxieties about the uptake of new technologies in multiple contexts. The office, the home and the 'office-in-the-home' were implicated in these changing spheres of gender stereotypes and technological development."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Stein |first=Jesse Adams |year=2011 |title=In Memoriam: Domesticity, Gender and the 1977 Apple II Personal Computer |magazine=Design and Culture |volume=3 |issue=2 |page=194}}</ref> After seeing a crude, [[wire-wrapped]] prototype demonstrated by Wozniak and [[Steve Jobs]] in November 1976,<ref name="helmers197803">{{Cite magazine |last=Helmers |first=Carl |date=March 1978 |title=An Apple to Byte |pages=18 |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|BYTE]] |volume=3 | issue=3 |url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1978-03/1978_03_BYTE_03-03_Computer_Music_Systems#page/n19/mode/2up |access-date=October 17, 2013}}</ref> ''Byte'' predicted in April 1977, that the Apple II "may be the first product to fully qualify as the 'appliance computer' ... a completed system which is purchased off the retail shelf, taken home, plugged in and used". The computer's color graphics capability especially impressed the magazine.<ref name="helmers197704">{{Cite magazine |last=Helmers |first=Carl |date=April 1977 |title=A Nybble on the Apple |pages=10 |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|BYTE]] | volume=2 | issue=4 |url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1977-04/1977_04_BYTE_02-04_Baudot_Machines#page/n11/mode/2up |access-date=October 16, 2013}}</ref> The magazine published a favorable review of the computer in March 1978, concluding: "For the user that wants color graphics, the Apple II is the only practical choice available in the 'appliance' computer class."<ref name="helmers197803" />

''[[Personal Computer World]]'' in August 1978 also cited the color capability as a strength, stating that "the prime reason that anyone buys an Apple II must surely be for the colour graphics". While mentioning the "oddity" of the artifact colors that produced output "that is not always what one wishes to do", it noted that "no-one has colour graphics like this at this sort of price". The magazine praised the sophisticated monitor software, user expandability, and comprehensive documentation. The author concluded that "the Apple II is a very promising machine" which "would be even more of a temptation were its price slightly lower ... for the moment, colour is an Apple II".<ref name="pcw197808">{{Cite magazine |last1=Coll |first1=John |last2=Sweeten |first2=Charles |date=August 1978 |title=Colour is an Apple II |pages=50 |magazine=Personal Computer World |url=https://archive.org/stream/Personal_Computer_World_1978-08_Apple_II_Review#page/n0/mode/2up |access-date=18 August 2014}}</ref>

Although it sold well from the launch, the initial market was to hobbyists and computer enthusiasts. Sales expanded exponentially into the business and professional market, when the spreadsheet program [[VisiCalc]] was launched in mid-1979. VisiCalc is credited as the defining [[killer app]] in the microcomputer industry.

By the end of 1977 Apple had sales of {{US$|long=no|775,000}} for the fiscal year, which included sales of the Apple I. This put Apple clearly behind the others of the "holy trinity" of the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, even though the TRS-80 was launched last of the three.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Badgnall |first=Brian |title=Commodore |date=May 24, 2024 |publisher=Variant Press |isbn=978-0973864960}}</ref> However, during the first five years of operations, revenues doubled about every four months. Between September 1977 and September 1980, annual sales grew from {{US$|long=no|775,000}} to {{US$|long=no|118 million}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Malone |first=Michael S. |title=Infinite Loop |date=1999 |publisher=Doubleday Business |isbn=0-385-48684-7 |page=157}}</ref> During this period the sole products of the company were the Apple II and its peripherals, accessories, and software.

In 2006, PC World wrote that the Apple II was the greatest PC of all time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126692-page,10-c,systems/article.html#II|title=The 25 Greatest PCs of All Time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511194506/http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126692-page,10-c,systems/article.html#II |archive-date=May 11, 2008 }}</ref>