apple, any tree (and its fruit) of the genus Malus of the family Rosaceae (rose rose, common name for some members of the Rosaceae, a large family of herbs, shrubs, and trees distributed over most of the earth, and for plants of the genus Rosa, the true roses.
..... Click the link for more information. family). Apples were formerly considered species of the pear genus Pyrus, with which they share the characteristic pome fruit. The common apple (M. sylvestris) is the best known and is commercially the most important temperate fruit. Apparently native to the Caucasus Mts. of W Asia, it has been under cultivation since prehistoric times. According to ancient tradition, the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden was the apple (Gen. 3). In religious painting, the apple represents the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as do occasionally the pear and the quince. It was sacred to Aphrodite in classical mythology. The apple is now widely grown in thousands of varieties, e.g., the Golden Delicious, Winesap, Jonathan, and McIntosh. The tree is hardy in cold climates, and the firm fruit is easy to handle and store. Most apples are consumed fresh, but some are canned or used for juice. Apple juice (sweet cider) is partly fermented to produce hard cider and fully fermented to make vinegar. Wastes from fermenting processes are a major source of pectin pectin, any of a group of white, amorphous, complex carbohydrates that occur in ripe fruits and certain vegetables. Fruits rich in pectin are the peach, apple, currant, and plum. Protopectin, present in unripe fruits, is converted to pectin as the fruit ripens.
..... Click the link for more information. . Applejack applejack, brandy made by distilling hard cider or fermented apple pomace. Another method of making applejack, now rarely used, is to let fermented cider freeze and then to remove the ice.
..... Click the link for more information. is a liquor made from hard cider. Western Europe, especially France, is the chief apple-producing region; in North America, also with an enormous total output, Washington is the leading apple-growing state, but very many areas grow crops at least for local consumption. The tree is subject to several insect and fungus pests, for which the orchards are sprayed. The hardwood is used for cabinetmaking and fuel. The crab apples are wild North American and Asian species of Malus now cultivated as ornamentals for their fragrant white to deep pink blossoms—e.g., the American sweet, or garland, crab apple (M. coronaria), the prairie crab apple (M. ioensis), and the Siberian crab apple (M. baccata). The small, hard, sour crab-apple fruits are used for preserves, pickles, and jelly; in growth and culture these trees are similar to the common apple. Apples are classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə)
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

apple

Fruit of the genus Malus, in the rose family, the most widely cultivated tree fruit. Malus species are native to the temperate zones of both hemispheres. They require a considerable period of dormancy, well-drained soil, careful pruning in early years of growth, and a rigorous pest-management program for mature trees. The apple is one of the pome (fleshy) fruits. Apples at harvest vary widely in size, shape, colour, and acidity, but most are fairly round and some shade of red or yellow. The thousands of varieties fall into three broad classes: cider, cooking, and dessert varieties. Varieties that ripen in late summer generally do not store well, but those that ripen in late autumn may be stored for as long as a year. The largest producers of apples are the U.S., China, France, Italy, and Turkey. Eaten fresh or cooked in various ways, apples provide vitamins A and C, carbohydrates, and fibre.

(Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA, www.apple.com) A manufacturer of computers and consumer electronics, Apple is the industry's most fabled story. Founded in a garage by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs and guided by Mike Markkula, Apple blazed the trails for the personal computer industry. Apple was formed on April Fool's Day in 1976. After introducing the Apple I at the Palo Alto Homebrew Computer Club, 10 retail stores were selling them by the end of the year.

In 1977, the Apple II was introduced, a fully-assembled computer with 4K RAM for $1,298. Its open architecture encouraged third-party vendors to build plug-in hardware enhancements. This, plus sound and color graphics, caused Apple IIs to become the most widely used computer in the home and classroom. They were also used in business primarily for the innovative VisiCalc software that was launched on it.

In 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa, the forerunner of the Macintosh. Lisa was aimed at the corporate market, but was soon dropped in favor of the Mac. As a graphics-based machine, the Mac was successful as a low-cost desktop publishing system. Although praised for its ease of use, its slow speed, small monochrome screen and closed architecture didn't excite corporate buyers. But, things were to change.

In 1987, the Mac II offered higher speed, larger screens in color and traditional cabinetry that accepted third-party add-in cards. Numerous models were offered and widely accepted. In 1991, Apple surprised the industry by announcing an alliance with IBM to form several companies that would develop hardware and software together. All these eventually folded back into Apple and IBM, but the major product of the alliance was the PowerPC chip (see Apple-IBM alliance). In 1994, Apple came out with its first PowerPC-based Power Macs, which proved very popular. Its PowerBook laptops were an instant success, and all subsequent models departed from the original Motorola 68K architecture to the PowerPC.

Apple has stood alone in a sea of IBM and IBM-compatible PCs for more than a decade and a half. It has watched its graphical interface copied more with each incarnation of Windows and watched its market share drop simultaneously. In late 1994, Apple began to license its OS to system vendors in order to create a Macintosh clone industry, which pundits had been suggesting for years. However, a couple of years later, that was discontinued.

In 1997, Apple acquired NeXT Computer, which brought Steve Jobs back to the company he founded and gave it a raft of object-oriented development tools, parts of which filtered down into the Mac OS X operating system.

In 1998, Apple introduced the iMac, a low-priced Internet-ready Mac that was the first personal computer without a floppy disk. Self-contained in one unit like the original Mac, Apple sold 800,000 iMacs in a year, making it the fastest-selling computer in its history. Apple's subsequent models, including the G4 Cube and Titanium portable, were in a class by themselves. Apple continues to offer attractive alternatives to the Windows-based PC.

In 2001, Apple launched the iPod, one of the most successful consumer electonics products in history. Setting the bar for portable music players, every competing product is measured against the iPod's ease of use and capabilities. In 2007, Apple announced the iPhone, a combination iPod, phone and Internet appliance that is available in the U.S. exclusively from AT&T (formerly Cingular) for two years.

The Two Steves
Wozniak and Jobs (left to right) pioneered the microcomputer revolution. Wozniak's engineering and Job's charisma truly built a legend. Here they hold the motherboard from the Apple I, Apple's first computer. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)

The Apple I
Rather humble beginnings, yet the Apple I led to the very successful Apple II series, which thrived for many years. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)

A Quarter Century Later
With a CPU chip 500 times as fast as the Apple I, the PowerBook G4 Cube bears little resemblance to Apple's first offering. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)

apple

as fruit of the tree of knowledge in Eden, has come to epitomize temptation. [O.T.: Genesis 3:1–7; Br. Lit.: Paradise Lost]

See : Temptation

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apple

Apple
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