The Story Behind Apple’s Steve Wozniak
Harley Dixon Most people have undoubtedly heard of Steve Jobs, the creator of Apple, which is now one of the biggest technology corporations in the world. Jobs was integral to the success of the company, taking it from a fledging small business to the global behemoth that it is today.
But Jobs wasn’t the only key to Apple’s success. When the company was still young, much of the hardware and software side of the computers was designed and implemented by Steve Wozniak, one of the founders of the personal computer as we know it today. This is the story of Wozniak and his many contributions to the world.
Woz’s Early Life
Steve Wozniak was born the son of an engineer who worked at the Lockheed Missile and Space Company. It’s reported that Steve was an undisciplined student that otherwise excelled at school, specifically in mathematics.
After he finished high school, eh would go on to attend the University of Colorado for a year before dropping out. He would eventually return to university, and him and Steve Jobs – whom he had met in high school – would start selling a device known as the Blue Box. It was used to hack into telephone networks to make long distance phone calls without having to make any payments.
During the 1970s, Wozniak would go on to work at several small electronic companies in San Francisco Bay, which ultimately culminated in him finding employment with the Hewlett-Packard Company in 1975.
Starting Apple
It was also around this time that he began experimenting with one of the first microprocessors in the world, which was based on the famous Intel 8080. He started using his own designs to create home-brewed personal computers, but Hewlett-Packard was not interested in his creations. Jobs, on the other hand, saw potential in the designs and him and Wozniak decided to make a company together.
This is when Steve began working on the first Apple personal computer, designing both the hardware and the software. The capital first came from Jobs, and they began production of the computer in Jobs’ garage. It didn’t take long for them to move on to a better version of the computer, known as the Apple II.
The Apple II proved to be something of an instant classic, which they completed in 1977, and started selling on the market. It was like nothing else available at the time, and many consider it the godfather of all modern personal computers that we have today, which are used for everything from work to video games to checking the latest casino sites Canada.
Just 3 years later and Apple was worth over $1 billion in market value, virtually making Jobs and Wozniak millionaires overnight.
Life After Apple
Despite his great contributions to the company, Wozniak would leave and join Apple a few more times before ultimately leaving Apple on a semi-retired basis.
He would go on to be involved in education and non-profit and remains a beloved and well-known figure among tech lovers to this day.