Along with Apple's greater successes, most notably the iPod and most recently with its new line of Intel computers, are products that the company would rather soon forget. Thirty years of experience in the world of computer electronics will do that to you.

Among the bastard products that Apple has produced are: The Lisa, a machine that, while innovative for its graphics user interface, was priced ridiculously high at $10,000; the Newton, one of the first Palm-like devices out there that appeared a generation too soon for consumers; and the Taligent, one of the companies few vaporware computers that promised the world, but delivered nothing in the end.

According to Forbes: Lucky for Apple, almost every disappointment or pratfall led to a bright idea that kept the company alive. For example, it took the commercial failure of the cumbersome and slow Macintosh Portable computer to give way to the svelte, ergonomic PowerBook laptop--a basic design that has stayed with the industry to this day. The same is true of the dynamic personalities behind the technological innovations. If Steve Jobs hadnÂ?t been ousted from the company and forced to watch the ten-year reign of three ineffectual chief executives, he may never have had the creative burst that led to the iMac, the iPod and iTunes.

So it all worked out in the end.