A Garage in Cupertino

On April 1, 1976, two guys in their twenties filed papers to form a company called Apple Computer. Steve Wozniak, 25, had built a computer in his spare time. Steve Jobs, 21, convinced him they could sell it. Their third partner, Ronald Wayne, provided a tiebreaker vote and drew the first logo. He sold his 10% stake two weeks later for $800.

The machine Wozniak designed was unlike anything hobbyists had seen. The Altair 8800, the era's most popular kit, had no keyboard, no screen — just toggle switches and blinking lights. Wozniak thought that was absurd. His Apple I came fully assembled on a single board, connected to a television, and let you type commands and see letters appear on screen. A small miracle then. Common sense now.

Jobs understood presentation. He priced the Apple I at $666.66 — not as provocation, but because he liked repeating digits and it gave retailers a standard markup. Paul Terrell of The Byte Shop ordered 50 units. Apple had its first real customer.

apple i circuit board and wooden case with woz sign, computer history museum. source: wikimedia commons

The garage at 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos became the mythological birthplace. In reality, most early work happened at Wozniak's apartment and at Hewlett-Packard, where he was an engineer. But myths have power. Two kids, a suburban garage, an empire — the image became shorthand for American entrepreneurial ambition.

The Apple I sold about 200 units before the Apple II replaced it in 1977, a fully enclosed machine with color graphics and expansion slots that turned Apple from a garage project into an industry force. But what made Apple different wasn't the hardware. It was the belief that computers should be for everyone, not just engineers. Wozniak designed for simplicity. Jobs designed for people. April Fools' Day turned out to be the least foolish date in technology history.