Apple Support UK History Information by Keith Thomas. Get information on Apple from 1993 to 2024.
The History of Apple Support in the United Kingdom – Apple Support UK.
Keith Thomas explains his experience the history of Apple Support in the UK going back to 1993 right thru to 2024. The history information is written by Keith Thomas a Apple Support Specialist that worked for Apple Computer UK from 1993 to 1998 as one of the senior Apple Support consultants at Apple Computer UK at Stockley Park Uxbridge Middlesex.
Apple UK in 1993 curated by Keith Thomas.
Back in 1993 Apple know as Apple Computer, and Apple Inc was based next to London Heathrow Airport at the Stuckey Park Uxbridge Business park, the park was the biggest complex at the time for company HQ offices, Apple has other companies, nearby on the park with BT, Hasbro, and Fujitsu, and other companies.
The working day at Apple Computer was very relaxed and the working conditions and life at Apple was probably as good as Google and Microsoft today.
Apple Computer in 1993 was focused on Apple Mac Computers, with Macintosh being the main focus, and with Apple being a Computer manufacturer, lots of planning was needed to fulfil Apple service and support to a network of Apple Dealers at this time.
The early days of Apple was focused on supporting a network of Apple Dealers, and most were Apple Authorised Service Providers, known back then as ASAP.
The early Apple Mac Computers had so many parts and so many different designs, this did cause Apple to have some spare parts and stock control issues, which are not present today, as the early Macintosh computers, has so many parts for each model, and the parts demand from Apple Authorised Service providers was rather high.
Apple and Classic OS Mac OS X.
Macintosh Classic System 7.0 and system 7.1 was the Mac OS, with system 6.0 still being used, for software, Apple has its Claris software, with Claris Works was popular, and with File Maker Pro, and with Adobe Photoshop, and Quark Xpress being very popular software applications to use, as well as WordPerfect for Mac.
With Mac OS, back in 1993 Mac OS was known as Classic Mac OS with Operating system 6, 7.x, 8.x, 9.x Macintosh OS 9 was the last Mac OS operating system, before Mac OS X, Mac OS X started with Mac OS X Panther, then Mac OS Tiger, Mac OS Leopard, with Mac OS 9 the famous Mac error – 41 and other Mac OS errors were very common, even a new Macintosh computer with a few days of use might give a Mac OS operating system software error. Which kept the Apple Technical team busy at Apple Stockley Park, with calls mainly from Apple Dealers asking questions about Mac OS and Classic OS.
Apple ventured into the retail market with the launch of the Macintosh LC computer, and the Macintosh LC II and the Macintosh LC III, the name Macintosh Performa was established as the Apple brand name for consumer Apple Mac Computers, the the Macintosh Performa being sold by Dixons, Comet, and John Lewis, with Mac OS operating system Classic modified to have the Mac OS Launcher, and a user friendly mode called At Ease, this worked well for Apple, as consumers purchased the Macintosh Performa range of Apple Mac computers.
With Classic OS and with Mac OS X the performance of the computers vs today, were of course, slow, and Mac OS Maintenance was needed to be done, rather often to keep the Apple Mac Computes running at a reasonable speed, Classic Mac OS has the very basic tool Disk Utility and Disk First Aid to help with a Hard Disk Repair, but a popular software tool at the time was Norton Utilities to help with Classic OS Maintenance, early Classic OS computers did not have the Mac OS Recovery console and Floppy Disks, and CD-R and DVD Technology was used, the Macintosh Performa 600 computer was one of the first consumer computers that had a CD drive and a Recovery CD was supplied with the Performa 600 computer.
Apple Branded Printers.
Apple also sold Apple Printers, with the famous Apple Style Writer Printer, and the Apple LaserWriter Printer Range, printing was of course popular on Apple Macintosh, with mac OS printing a well known icon called the Moof was used as a printer mascot, it was perhaps a pet from one of the Apple Mac OS software development team.
Apple Mac Computer Technology Microprocessors CPU’s.
Apple has used Motorola, Intel, with Intel to 2019, and from 2020, Apple Silicon, as the core technology behind Apple Computer Technology history and with the early Apple Mac computers, the Motorola and Intel CPU and Graphics Technology created a lot of heat, so having fans and cooling was a key issue and design in cooling was essential with Macintosh, the PowerPC, and the Power Macintosh G5 computer, and the G3, and G4 computers, needed cooling, and the case design was big, vs todays Apple Mac computers.
- Motorola 030 and 040 CPU
- PowerPC 1993
- Intel Core and Intel Core Du, and Intel i3, i5 to – 2019
- Apple Silicon – 2020 M1, 2021 M2, 2024, M3
Early Apple Laptops – PowerBooks.
The early Apple Laptops were named PowerBook with the PowerBook G3 and PowerBook G4 being the early and popular Apple Laptops with Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel, being one of the most popular applications to use. The Apple PowerBook G4 17 at the time was big for the screen and display size, Apple also had a docking station Laptop called the Duo Dock, with a docking station designed as a monitor stand as a take away portable computer concept.
Apple eWorld and the Apple Internet Connection Kit.
The very early days of the internet for Apple was to have an online service called eWorld, at that time AOL was popular in the USA with the AOL online software, looking back now, it was primitive at the time vs the internet today, as with Mac OS Classic, Mac OS has limited support for the internet, and Apple used a software application called the Apple Internet connection kit, which was Netscape browser, a dial up tool, the Apple Internet connection kit was popular on the Apple Mac Performa range of computers, which were used by consumers and home users, and early internet users, the software was basic, and it often failed to work well.
Apple Newton Message Pad.
The Apple Newton Message Pad was a early move into tablets, back then it was more of a pocket notepad with a Apple Stylus to draw on the screen, with the storage on a card design. At Apple Computer, Keith Thomas spent time working on the Apple Newton Helpline, with a team of Newton Support Specialists.
Apple QuickTake Camera.
Apple has a early Digital Camera called the Apple QuickTake Camera, of course a early move from film to digital photography, The Apple QuickTake Camera was upgraded to a Apple QuickTake 100 camera. It connected to the Apple Mac Computer via a cable to copy images to a Apple Mac Computer.
Apple iPhone 2007 launch.
The Apple iPhone with iOS 1.0 was of course revolutionary new and of course exciting for both Apple and for consumers and the early use of the internet on the iPhone, email became popular on the move, and Microsoft Hotmail, and AOL Mail, and POP email was becoming more common to use. the Blackberry phone was a competitor to the iPhone, and even Microsoft had a Windows phone to get into the smartphone market, the Apple iPhone 3GS launch price at the time considered reasonable vs todays iPhone prices.
The Apple iPhone 3GS and the Apple iPhone 4 were at the time advanced technology, and the technology behind the iPhone was the CPU and the camera technology, at that time and the display touch screen.
Apple UK Technical Support Centre.
Keith Thomas, worked at Apple Computer UK in the Apple UK Technical Support Centre, known as the Fishbowl, for its design and shape, Apple had two key Technical Support teams, focused on Apple UK Technical support to Apple Dealers, and for Apple Authorised Service providers, When Apple started to support Apple Mac Computers, that were able to run Microsoft Windows on Mac, a Apple PC support team was created, then with the Apple Newton and Apple eWorld service, Apple created a Newton Helpline, and a eWorld support Helpline service. Apple was expanding, and Apple needed to run a more professional service for Apple UK Technical Support, so Apple needed scale, fast, Apple used BT British Telecom to help with call centre technology and with IVR technology.
The Apple Assistance Centre known as AAC.
As Apple become more well known for its consumer range of Apple products, now sold all around Europe, Apple needed a quick new solution to provide support for customers that had purchased a new Apple Mac Computer from a Apple Authorised Dealer, and Apple Authorised Reseller, and from an Apple Authorised Retailer, at this time Apple did not have any Apple Stores in the UK, and Dixons, and John Lewis for the UK was the place that consumers purchased a new Apple Mac Computer, at Apple, Keith Thomas worked on the Performa Helpline, providing Apple Technical Support service to the general public and also for Dixons, John Lewis, and for Apple Authorised Dealers, with consumers, at this time a Macintosh computer had a floppy disk drive, and Apple had a backup software application, which consumers were supported to make a backup of the computer, many consumers did not make a backup of the computer, and the task of posting a box of disks to the customer was a daily task all done by hand.
Apple AAC and Apple UK and Europe Support.
Apple Macintosh was and is still popular in France, Germany, and in many other European countries, so Apple needed to provide support for the European customers, so Apple employed staff that knew how to speak many languages, at the Apple AAC Call centre, some of the staff has great language skills, but needed to learn about Macintosh and Classic OS Mac, so at the Apple AAC call centre, Keith Thomas provided help and training for Apple AAC staff that needed help, for Keith Thomas my day looking back was of course great!
How to get in touch with Keith Thomas.
Keith Thomas today is the owner of keiththomas.co.uk with a focus for on site Apple Mac Computer Support and Apple Support service in the UK providing on site Apple Support in London, Central London, and in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, and for special projects travel to Europe and to the UK is possible.
To get in touch with Keith Thomas simply complete our online website contact form. You can also telephone 07800 940756 between 09:30 am and 20:30 pm Mondays to Sundays. You can also send a SMS Text Message or Apple iMessage to 07800 940756 between 09:30 am and 20:30 pm.