Apple, which received the title of the world’s first company of 3 trillion dollars a while ago, is considered one of the biggest inspirations in terms of its founding story. The company, which started its activities as a result of the struggle and sacrifices of its founders, managed to take its current form after going through difficult processes.
Of course, although Steve Jobs comes to the fore more at this point, it would be a big mistake to ignore the other two founders. We also focused on the life of Steve Wozniak, who is one of the names who have a share in the establishment of Apple and its success and conveyed it to you in detail.
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Who is Steve Wozniak?
Coming from a family of Polish descent, Steve Gary Wozniak was born on August 11, 1950 in California. Also known by nicknames such as “The Woz”, “Wonderful Wizard of Woz”, “iWoz” and “WoZ”, Wozniak is known for his introverted personality.
Steve Wozniak, who gave the signals at an early age that he would be one of the prominent names in the technology world in the future, built his first computer at the age of 13 as a result. Wozniak, who was also called an electronic prodigy in his high school, changed his life about 6 years later when he met Steve Jobs, who was 5 years younger than him at the age of 19.
The two Steves, who are very similar in mindset, decided to work together in this field and realized their first actions. In this direction, a device called the “blue box” has emerged that allows people to make free phone calls by hacking public networks.
At this point, Wozniak, who wanted to devote more time to his projects and further develop his partnership with Steve Jobs, made a critical decision in 1975 and left the University of Berkeley, where he continued his education. Of course, this decision meant extra time for his projects rather than a loss for Wozniak.
Apple’s foundations are laid
At that time, the foundations of the Apple company began to be laid gradually. The computer kit (roughly the motherboard) developed by Steve Wozniak, called the “Apple I”, was taken for display at the Homebrew Computer Club, a hobby group in California.
The Apple I was not accepted by the store in the first place on the grounds that it was not mass, because at that time, the opinion of what can be done with a circuit board was dominant, since computer systems were not at a high level. However, thanks to Steve Jobs’ business acumen and persuasion ability, they somehow managed to get 50 orders from the store at the end of the day.
This is where the famous garage conversation begins. On April 1, 1976, Apple Computer, which will become the world’s most valuable company years later, is officially established. In this process, Wozniak left Hewlett-Packard, where he was currently working, to focus on the company he founded, and took over as Apple’s vice president of research and development. Ronald Wayne, one of the founding partners of the company, sold his shares to Wozniak and Jobs for $800 in 1977 before Apple was incorporated.
Apple, which started to grow slowly and attract attention in the technology world, made its first big sale by selling 100 Apple I computers to Paul Terrell, who opened a new computer store named Byte Shop in Mountain View, California.
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, who succeeded in making the Apple I model one of the most powerful computers of its time with new functions, in a short time, became multi-millionaires with the public offering of the company in 1980.
The plane crash that changed everything
For Steve Wozniak, who is the brainchild of Apple, the plane crash in 1981 was a turning point. Although Wozniak, who caused the Beechcraft Bonanza brand aircraft to crash earlier than expected, had a pilot’s certificate, the researches conducted by the National Transportation Safety Council revealed that he did not have enough information to fly this type of aircraft.
For Wozniak, who was faced with retrograde amnesia (retrograde amnesia) and temporary amnesia (anterograde amnesia) as a result of this accident, his life suddenly turned upside down. However, this situation is short-lived and Wozniak’s memory returns after a while.
Wozniak does not return to Apple immediately, as might be expected, after recovering from the plane crash and fully recovering. In this process, he returned to Berkeley University, which he left unfinished, and completed his education in 1986. Deciding to return to Apple about three years before graduating, Wozniak began working as an engineer in the product development department, not as a think tank like before.
Wozniak, who made a critical decision to leave his full-time job at Apple on February 6, 1987, after four years as an engineer, nevertheless did not completely break his ties with the company and continued to remain as one of the shareholders and receive a salary.
After leaving Apple, Steve Wozniak, who continues to be active in the technology world with different projects and initiatives, summarizes his successful career as follows;
Actually, my dream was to one day only have my own computer. If I thought that meant starting a company to sell them, I would probably avoid the whole thing.
So what do you think about this subject? Did Steve Wozniak get the recognition he deserves in his career, where he’s packed a lot of success? Or is he behind Steve Jobs? Do not forget to share your views with us in the comments section.