Part III
The two men who first introduced the PC to the market – Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak – had neither prestigious university education nor experience in big business.
Jobs was raised by adoptive parents in Cupertino, California, located in what is now known as the Silicon Valley. Though he was interested in engineering, his passions of youth varied. He dropped out of Reed College, Portland, Oregon, took a job at Atari Corporation as a video game designer early in 1974, and saved enough money for a pilgrimage to India to experience Buddhism.
B
ack
in the Silicon Valley in the autumn of 1974, Jobs reconnected with
Stephen Wozniak, a former high school friend who was working for the
Hewlett-Packard Company. When Wozniak told Jobs of his progress in
designing his own computer circuit board, Jobs suggested that they go
into business together, which they did after Hewlett-Packard formally
turned down Wozniak's design in 1976. A prototype of the Apple I was
built in the Jobs' family garage.The
computer was actually a circuit board without monitor, keyboard, or
casing1.
(See Figure 2)
Their initial plans were modest. Jobs calculated that they could sell about 100 computers to hobbyists for $50 each, twice what the parts cost them.
Figure 2
Steven Jobs (right) and Stephen Wozniak hold an Apple I board, 1976.
The first order for 50 machines was received from Paul Terrell, owner of one of computer retail stores. To raise3 the $1300 needed to buy the parts, Jobs sold his Volkswagen minibus and Wozniak his programmable calculator. It took only 5 days to assemble 50 devices. Soon Jobs and Wozniak had more orders than they could fill with their makeshift production line in the garage of Jobs's parents.
Jobs and Wozniak brought different abilities to their business: To Wozniak the new machine was a gadget2 to share with other members of their computer club. To Jobs, however, it was a product with great marketing potential. Wozniak was the technological wizard, and Jobs was the entrepreneur. Wozniak designed the first model, and Jobs attracted interest from investors and buyers. Wozniak once admitted that without Jobs he would never have considered selling the computer or known how to do it. "Steve didn't do one circuit. He has not really been into computers, and to this day, he has never gone through a computer manual. But it never crossed my mind to sell computers. It was Steve who said: "Let's hold them up4 and sell a few".
From the very beginning, Apple Computer Co. founded by two friends had taken into consideration the needs and interests of the general public. Jobs insisted that the computers be light, trim, and made in muted colors. He also insisted that the language used with the computers be user-friendly and that the operation be simple enough for the average person to learn in a few minutes. These features helped convince the skeptical public that the computer was practical for the home and small business. The Apple I was offered at a price of $666.66 and sold 600 units, mainly to computer hobbyists. Jobs also introduced the idea of presenting Apple Computers to thousands of California schools, thereby indirectly introducing his product into the homes of millions of students. Their second model, the Apple II, contained a keyboard and a monitor. A cassette recorder as a means of storing programs was attached. The Apple II was the most used PC in home and small businesses from 1977 to 1982. By 1983, the total company sales were almost $600 million, and it controlled 23 percent of the world market in personal computers.
Notes: 1casing– корпус;
2gadget – устройство, техническая новинка;
3toraise(money) – найти источник финансирования;
4holdup– выставлять, показывать.