July 21, 1999 – Apple unveils its groundbreaking iBook Laptop and ushers in the official launch of Wi-Fi as a commercial product. Three years earlier, when he returned to Apple, Steve Jobs notably drew out a four-box grid to demonstrate how he wanted to simplify Apple’s messy product line-up. Across the top of the grid “Consumer and Pro” was written, while the left side of the grid had “Desktop and Portable,” notating the four types of products he wanted to champion to serve both professionals and the wider public. All of these were in the public sphere except for the consumer portable product at the time.
Fast forward to 1999 when Steve Jobs announced the official launch of the Apple iBook. The new laptop computer allowed consumers to “roam around their houses as they roam around the internet”. The device cost $1,599 without the optional wireless accessories, such as a $299 base station that is plugged into a regular telephone jack like a cordless phone to allow users the ability to wander up to 150 feet away while on the internet. It came in the colors blueberry and tangerine, which appealed to customers more than other typical grey, bulky laptop computers. When comparing it to the iMac, the company’s famed consumer desktop, Jobs said “iBook is the ‘iMac to Go. I hope people are starting to see the design is making a difference.” The iBook was available for purchase from September of 1999 until 2006 when Apple replaced it with the MacBook line.
