Thank´s for 31 Insanely Great Years !

Steve Wozniak, Daniel Kottke and Steve Jobs at
"PC '76 Computer Show in Atlantic City", on August 28. and 29. 1976.
On top of the monitor display - the Apple One LogicBoard.

One of the greatest success stories in the history of computers began with the sale of a Volkswagen van and a calculator. The sale gave Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs enough money to start the Apple Computer Company. Jobs was 21, and Wozniak was just a few years older at the time. Neither had graduated from college yet.

Around first April of 1976, a small company was founded by 3 guys (Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne) to sell a product called the Apple I personal computer. Today, the world is a completely different place because of the innovations of Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and all the amazing men and women who have helped change the world with computers over the last 32 years. It is simply astounding how things have changed in such a relatively short time.

Early 1976: Jobs asks a former colleague from Atari, Ronald Wayne to join them in their startup. Wayne is 41 years old and works as draftsman at Atari. Jobs offers Wayne ten percent interest in the company and Wayne agrees, although he keeps his jobs at Atari and works at night for Apple. ¹

Around April 1st, 1976: Apple Computer is founded by Steven Wozniak, Steven Jobs and Ron Wayne. Ron Wayne designs the first Apple logo.

Early April 1976: The local computer store 'Byte Shop' orders 50 Apple I computers, where is is sold for $666.66. Jobs, Woz and Wayne face one major problem though: They don't have enough money to buy the parts for 50 Apple Is, each costing over $100 to build. Jobs persuades a local part supplier to give them the parts on 30 days' net credit. The three assemble the Apple Is at night in their garage and manage to deliver the ordered Apple Is in ten days.

April 12th, 1976: Ron Wayne resigns from Apple Computer, with a one-time payment of $800. He felt that the financial risk was too great specially since Woz still hasn't got the legal release from HP.

Apple Was Not An April Fool !

Apple Inc. was not founded on the 01. April 1976! Here a short version of an interesting e-mail, you find it complete at the myoldmac.net F.A.Q.

At 00:24 14/06/99 EDT
>Hi Mike,
> ....snip....

>Another interesting side fact I asked him also was why did you found Apple Computer on April Fools day. He [woz] replied that it was not founded on 4/1 at all, but that the Corp. papers were file around 4/4 or perhaps even on 4/5 and he doesn't know where the rumor of Apple Computer being founded on 'April Fools Day' came from, nor just who got that rumor started, but, his Corp. filing papers for the Incorperation of Apple Computer were dated several days after 4/1.

>So there you have the facts and the truth of it all - as told to me face to face by Woz back in 1996.
>Cheers, Tom

Steve Wozniak fell in love with electronics while still in grade school. While in the sixth grade, he built a calculator out of spare parts. By the time he was in high school, he was programming minicomputers for a local business. Wozniak enjoyed working with computers so much that he wanted to own one himself. But even the smallest computers at that time cost tens of thousands of dollars. While he was in college, he had a chance to fulfill his dream. Staying up nights and drinking cream soda, he designed and built what he called the Cream Soda Computer. That design eventually led to the Apple I.

Steve Jobs also became interested in electronics at an early age. When he was 13, he called up William Hewlett, one of the founders of the Hewlett-Packard Company, to ask for some spare parts. He got the parts and a summer job at Hewlett-Packard too. After high school, Jobs attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon for a semester. He dropped out of college to start designing video games as one of the first 50 employees of Atari. He left that job to travel in India with a friend, Dan Kottke.

Steve Jobs (left) and Daniel Kottke (right) presenting the Apple I at the
"PC '76 Computer Show in Atlantic City"

In July of 1976 the Apple-1 was released and sold for $666.66. Steve Jobs approached a local computer store, The Byte Shop, to see if they would sell some as well. They said "Sure, we'll take fifty fully assembled units." They sold them all. About 200 Apple I computers were made in total. Excited by their success, Woz went on to design the Apple II, which was release one year after the Apple I. Today, Apple I computers are extremely rare. In the late 90's, one sold at an auction for $12,500. An Apple I reportedly sold for $50000 at auction in 1999.

The Apple I, sold as Motherboard without case for 666,66 $ at friendly computer part dealers like Byte Shop or Electro-Tex.

Apple I Logic Board briefcase covered with an "internal" keyboard.Taken from the Apple II GS manual, so it seems to be the Case Apple I from WOZ himself. Since Apple 1 was essentially a kit, several people put the Apple 1 inside a briefcase. There was no case or power supply, so tech savvy users came up with a nifty solution by placing the components inside a suitcase.

The original Apple 1 - CPU - MOS 6502

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1975 with a "Blue Box".

The Blue Box: a device with which one could (mis)use the telephone system by emulating pulses (i.e. phone phreaking). Wozniak and Jobs built and sold Blue Boxes for $150 a piece. Read more about the secrets of the little blue box at myoldmac.net F.A.Q.