In 1971, years before they built computers, 16-year-old Steve Jobs and 21-year-old Steve Wozniak started a different kind of partnership. After reading an Esquire article, they built ‘Blue Boxes’ that could trick telephone networks into making free long-distance calls. Wozniak, a gifted engineer, designed a reliable digital version, and Jobs handled sales. They sold around 200 of the illegal devices to students at UC Berkeley. To test their creation, Wozniak once famously tried calling the Vatican, impersonating a US diplomat to speak with the Pope. This early venture gave them the belief that they could take on giant industries. Jobs later reflected on its importance, saying, "If we hadn’t made those blue boxes, there would be no Apple."
Steve Jobs and the Birth of Apple
How Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne started Apple in 1976, selling a van and a calculator to pay for the first computers.
Chapter 1
The Phone Phreaks
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Frequently Asked Questions
How did Apple get its start?
Apple Computer was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. They raised the initial capital by selling personal items: Jobs sold his Volkswagen Microbus and Wozniak sold his advanced HP-65 calculator.
Was Apple really started in a garage?
While the garage of Jobs' childhood home is a famous part of the legend, co-founder Steve Wozniak clarified that it was mostly a meeting place and shipping hub. Most of the engineering for the Apple I was done at Wozniak's cubicle at Hewlett-Packard.
What made the Apple II computer so successful?
The Apple II was one of the first personal computers designed as a user-friendly consumer appliance, with a plastic case and color graphics. Its success was massively boosted by VisiCalc, the first-ever spreadsheet program, which made the computer an indispensable tool for business.
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