INTERVIEW: STEVE WOZNIAK

Computer Wua8k came Iren Wozriak: It came out of Steve lobs's head, and he's a son 'Showing off Breakout on the of private person, so I cant say what led up to it He came up with an inspiration. He was working from time to time in Apple II at the Homebrew the orchards up in Oregon. I thought that it might be because there were apples in the orchard or maybe lust its Iructarian Computer Club was the most nature. Maybe the wad just happened to occur to him. In any case, we bah tried to come up with better names, but neither one of us could think of anything better after Apple satisfying day of my life: was mentioned.

BYTE: Hewlett-Pahad didn't vsni the ragas talk Apple I Y kaput I could take down to the club and show of. k was only 30 d ride you wee exrkng them. d you ogee it to Pam? or 40 dips and it could run BASIC. People would look at Wozniak: Yes. There were a few of us n the lab at HP who it It was unexpected. were interested in microcomputer& We had proposed it to the lab manager. We sat down and had a meeting and BYTE: So how Ad Apple Computer actually get started? worked out on paper how we could have a little $800 machine

Wozniak: Steve and I had both been going down to the that could run BASIC and connect to a home TV Now thy IHOmebrew Computed club and giving out schematics for guy had been the project manager of HP's 9830 desktop the computer and the terminal. even going over to peoples BASIC machine, and he had been through a lot of these houses and helping them build and test the computers out issues. He knew why this couldn't bean HP product and he Steve said, "look, people are interested in what you've got was right Hewlett -Packard just couldn't do a hobby product- Why don't we make a PC board, have k silkweened so they they just couldn't get into an evolving marker when it was know what parts to plug in, and sell it at the club" too young and unforeseen So he turned it down and I got We had about 500 members in the club, and I thought that a legal release. A funny thing happened After we started ship- maybe 50 people would buy Ít. It would cost us about 51000 ping Apple Is, our cakulator division at II> started a Ink to have the board laid out. and each board would cost us e -lot processor project called Capricorn I had already done about 520. So if we sold them! or 540 and 50 people bought most of the stuff they were doing. but they wouldn't let me them we'd get our 51000 back It seemed pretty doubtful. work on that project But Steve said. "Well. yes. but at least for once in our hoes well have a company.- So Steve sold his van and I sold my BYTE: Ca pi swear tae the ehamdentics of the Apple P HP calculator to rase the money to make the PC boards. Wozniak: R used the 6502 and included 8K of RAM by the Right away Steve got a big order from a local computer ore we psi it out as a product You could load BASIC into store to supply completely built computers. They ordered 4K of memory and you had 4K left over for your own BASIC something like I00 unks at 5500 each, to retail at $666 It programs We suppled the boards completely put together was unbelievable-a 550,000 order. We were in business. and it had a video connector. but you stil had to cornett AI of a sudden we needed about $20000 to buy parts a video monitor on you own You also had to get a keyboard Steve went down to the local parts suppliers and we filed and Pe k into a 16-pin DIP connector. We built a power our financial forms. They looked at our purchase order, evade supply onto the board, but you had to connect two trans- phone calls, and really looked into our customer's aedt In formers for Svoks and 12 volts. It had no speaker no graphics the end. they gave us the pans with 30 days aedk We had or color. It could just display text at 60 characters per second everything set up to build the computers and deliver them in 10 days, and it worked out great. We delivered the can - BYTE: the Asplay rases memarymrpped? Miters, paid off the parts suppliers and only had to borrow Wozniak: W, it was just a computer with a built-in video ten - 55000 from a friend, Alan Baum and his lather. mnal. You could handwre certain addresses to read the key- board write to the video terminal and select addresses for

BYTE: Hale may Apple Is dal you woolly sell? 4K urnmury bank I and bank 2. It had one external card con- Wozniak: We manuf actured 200 of them and sold al but 25 nector, and we quickly filled that seth a cassette interface over a period of nine or ten months. card. It also had a side connector where we could theoretical- ly add something later to expand it The idea was just very BYTE: When was drat? small and simple and it was all on one board Wozniak: In 1976. It was first demonstrated running BASIC in late 1975. and Steve suggested forming a company in late BYTE: Was thee a nwelor in ROM? 1976 We formed an official partnership in March. We had Wozniak Not ready. In shore days PROMS were very expert a third partner at the time who had D percent but he sold sive so l just used two small 256 by 4 PROM, to give me out for 5800 because he thought we weren't going to go my- 256 bytes of ROM. I wrote a little program that would let where except Po debt and he was the only partner with you type in hexadecimal codes, examine a ranged memory, money. or run a program at a particular address Those time func- tions lit is 256 bytes BYTE: lust to put par a lue storks lo rest lefere Ad de muse Apple uoirwh

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