Apple is obsessed with BLUE! (and power)

Yet they don't like Blu-Ray?? Oh well.

Apple announced today the release of their new MacBook Pros featuring new Intel processors and a new I/O interface. (I/O, for those who don't know, are just ports on your computer like USB and HDMI.)

This isn't the first time Apple has invented completely new technology.
They invented firewire all the way back in 1995. THis was their first original I/O invention. They where also one of the first companies to support the USB standard, starting in around 1998. They were the first company to get rid of floppy disks (remember those? 1.5 mb of storage!!) and replace them with CD drives (circa 1998).

Apple has done more than that, however. They were the very first to utilize a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI). although they did not invent these technologies, they where the first to get it right, put them together and was the first commercial success. This was in the early '80's.

Click to check out a quick look at Apple's
various GUI's over the years.

Click to check out Apple's history of Mice.

1994, they invented and popularized another input method for computers - the trackpad, which has been a standard feature in laptops since. Of course 1995 they brought us FireWire, And in 2001, they revolutionized the music industry with the first digital music player: the iPod. While they did not invent MP3 players, they were the first to get it right. 1,000 songs in your pocket was only the begging.

The current family of iPods (as of February 2011)

As if the mouse, trackpad, and clickwheel (iPod) weren't enough, Apple invented a new technology for a new device. The technology was Multi-Touch and the device was the iPhone. Why was this such a big deal? Check it out here.

Since Multi-Touch on the iPhone in 2007, that technology quickly spread to other Apple devices, like a new iPod and their latest trackpads and mice.

That brings us to today: The introduction of Apple's NEW I/O called Thunderbolt, and, like many Apple icons, is blue, and round.

What is thunderbolt? Thunderbolt replaces the likes of USB, FireWire, and even display I/O's like VGA, DVI, audio and HDMI! All in one port that's like a bajillion times faster!

And that is the main point to this post: Thunderbolt, and Apple's extreme liking of blue icons. Their latest smattering of computer will still include usb and firewire, as Thunderbolt is relatively new (yes, even in the computer industry, one day old is very new).

Check out some Thunderbolt stats below: 

Update: 3/4/11: Part 2