Apple Computers was recently named the 10th most disruptive idea of the last 85 years by Businessweek. To celebrate the historic impact of the Apple I and Apple II computer had on the digital revolution, the magazine interviewed Steve Wozniak to talk about the early days of Apple.
Wozniak talked about working with Steve Jobs in high school and how the two founded the company with Ron Wayne, but Woz says that while he realized the world was on the verge of a huge computer revolution, it took Jobs a little longer to see the impact computers would have on the average Joe.
“He had always spoken about wanting to be a person that moves the world forward, but he couldn’t really create things and design them like I could. Steve wanted a company real badly. His thinking was not necessarily about what computers would do for the average Joe in the average home. Steve found the words that explained what these computers would do for people and how important it was a little later in life.”
Wozniak and Jobs went on to create the Apple II which became the first computer to sell 1 million units. The garage at Steve Jobs’ parents house is often cited as the genesis point for Apple Inc, but Woz demystified that tale, saying it’s “a bit of a myth.” Most of the work on the Apple I actually took place at Woz’s cubicle at Hewlett-Packard, not the garage.
“We did no designs there, no breadboarding, no prototyping, no planning of products. We did no manufacturing there,” explained Woz. “The garage didn’t serve much purpose, except it was something for us to feel was our home.”
Woz also talked about how he would try to avoid conflict with Steve Jobs, but that “Steve was going to make sure that his position was strong and forceful and heard by others.”
“Thankfully he had the best brain,” says Wozniak.
Source: Businessweek
