Happy Birthday, Apple
I would be remiss if I failed to mention that, along with April Fools’ Day, yesterday marked the 32nd anniversary of Apple, Inc. In its 80th Anniversary issue, Time Magazine revisits a 2003 story titled, “80 Days that Changed the World” that includes a piece about how Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak ushered in the personal computer with the founding of Apple on April 1, 1976:
They were two guys named Steve, so Steve Jobs was called Steve and Steve Wozniak went by Woz. At 25, Wozniak was the technical brains. Jobs, 21, was the dreamer with a knack for getting others to dream along with him. They had gone to the same high school, and in the hazy years after graduation - both were college dropouts - a shared interest in electronics brought them together. Jobs didn’t yet have his own place, so when their formal partnership began, the decision was made in a bedroom at his parents’ ranch house in Los Altos, Calif.
Most computers in 1976 were room-size machines with Defense Department size price tags, but Wozniak had been tinkering with a new design, and his computer was different. It wasn’t much to look at—just a bunch of chips screwed to a piece of plywood—but it was small, cheap and easy to use, and Jobs had noticed the stir it caused when they took it to a local computer club. “He said, ‘We’ll make it for 20 bucks, sell it for 40 bucks!’” Wozniak remembers. “I kind of didn’t think we’d do it.” Jobs came up with the name, inspired by an orchard in Oregon where he had worked with some friends: Apple Computer. “When we started the little partnership, it was just like, Oh, this will be fun,” Wozniak says. “We won’t make any money, but it’ll be fun.”
They didn’t go out and celebrate that day. Woz wouldn’t even quit his day job designing chips for calculators at Hewlett-Packard until months later, after Jobs had sold his Volkswagen bus for seed money. Nobody, not even Jobs, saw what was coming next: that Apple would create the look and feel of every desktop in the world and start our love affair with the personal computer.
I didn’t become an Apple fan (I prefer “user” or “evangelist”) until the introduction of the horribly overpriced ($10,000) Lisa, the first personal computer to feature a visual desktop (GUI) and a mouse. And when Apple later introduced the Macintosh, well, I was hooked. Happy birthday, Apple!
Doug
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Reader Comments (16)
Did anyone notice Woz's belt buckle? Do you think he still wears it?
It is nice to know that the chance to come up with something really great still exists. These guys are a great story! And they did it for fun, not because they their goal was to get rich! Great motivational story!
I did something great. I "innovated" a Mac-like interface! Yet I get no respect! Why does everyone love Jobs and hate me?
Jobs is still the "idea" guy behind Apple. The article notes that he "was the dreamer with a knack for getting others to dream along with him." That is still true today.
You have to hand it to Apple and Jobs. They are true innovators and bring computing to regular people who don't want to fight with their operating system and want to get things done.
If Apple is so great, why don't they have a bigger piece of the computer market? Its because they aren't.
Happy birthday Apple Inc!
I find it interesting that even though Wozniak was the "brains", Apple did well until Jobs was removed and the board was headed by corporate MBA types. Then they fell into disarray and would have collapsed had they not brought Jobs back. It proves that you can replace tech types, but without the dreamer and motivator, you can't succeed.
Nice article from the past!
The Lisa was a huge commercial failure. Why do people praise it? I never knew anyone who used it. Most people never even heard of it.
Why do you require an "editor" to "approve" comments? That is censorship!! How do you expect to get a comment thread going if no one knows what anyone else says? Or do you omit the comments that disagree with your "fan boy" opinions?
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See my comment below, Viper. I have no problem with differing opinions; my problem is with how they are sometimes expressed or, more specifically, with undisciplined punks who think their right to free expression entitles them to crap all over that of others. Dissenting opinions? I welcome them! I love a spirited controversial discussion! Just don't pepper it with expletives. My grandkids read this blog!
And just so you know, I only hold comments when I find that someone is abusing the rules or is spamming me because I can't continuously monitor. When I clean things up and ban the offenders, I open things back up.
Fair enough?
Doug
I know there is a sort of war between PC and Mac users. I use a PC at work and so I have one at home. I will admit that I have never used a Mac so I can't say one way or another about them. My new son in law switched to a Mac a couple years ago and now swears by it. I use my PC for email, internet, correspondence, spreadsheets. My wife downloads photos. I don't see how another computer can do that any better. I applaud Apple's success but I will stick with what I know.
Very nice article.
May I remind everyone that I do check comments regularly and, if you've strayed "outside the lines" with a rude, profane or disrespectful comment, it will be deleted and you will be permanently banned. The same goes for spammers. My blog, my rules.
To the two of you that posted the adolescent and vulgar remarks this morning, they were deleted and you are now banned. Congratulations.
To the rest of my well mannered readers, I apologize for having to periodically hold your comments pending review. One or two abusers inconvenience everyone else. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Doug
Good call on the belt buckle, I hadn't noticed it until I blew up the picture. I bet it is worth a mint now!
OK, fair enough. I hate spammers and flamers too.
No matter what platform you use, no one can deny that Apple is a company that innovates. We are a UNIX shop but if I were to ever change it would probably be for a Mac. I just read somewhere that Macs now have a 21% piece of the pc market. That growth outpaces everyone else. You can't knock success.
We saw that vulgar display this morning by the two "adolescents". It didn't even follow logical thought and the spelling was terrible. Like badly spelled graffiti on a wall. Just an excuse to see how many four letter words could be used. Thank you for removing it!!
We enjoy the "G" rating you have on your site. Thank you for that too!!