Woz: Garage Was A Myth, Jobs Wasn't An Early Computer Believer

It's been three years since Steve Jobs passed away, but his legacy continues, and so does his origin story. Celebrating the legacy of Apple, and particularly the Apple I and II, Jobs' first partner in crime, Steve Wozniak, gives a bit of insight into the young Steve Jobs back in the 1970's, showing how human the man in the turtleneck was. And apparently, he wasn't as enthusiastic about computers back then before he made a quick U-turn to become the passionate Jobs we all know.

While Woz was already intent on creating computers, Jobs wasn't so interested yet. He was far more interested about forming a company that would move the world forward. He just didn't see computers to be that vehicle. Thankfully, he was eventually won over and saw how computers would change and improve the life of Average Joe. He even became more eloquent than anyone else at trying to get that point across, as the history of Apple and its products would go on to prove.

The start was rocky and not as spectacular. The Apple I, according to Woz, sold only a hundred. The Apple II, just a few thousands. But the breakthrough came when they were able to design a spreadsheet program that turned what would take 10 years to do with pen and paper into just 30 minutes. Businessmen were sold on the promise, and a million Apple II were sold in five years. That was the first computer to ever reach that number, changing to course of personal computing forever.

And the origins of Apple weren't as dramatic as some startups and indie developers might imagine it to be. Apparently, the garage is a myth. While the two Steve's did call it home, for lack of an actual space, much of the real work, the designing, the prototyping, the manufacturing, was done elsewhere, particularly in Woz's Hewlett-Packard cubicle. So apparently, we have to thank HP's more open culture back then, more than that garage, for the birth of Apple.

SOURCE: Business Week

VIA: Cult of Mac