3. A TRIBUTE TO APPLE
In 1975, Steve Wozniak was working for Hewlett Packard (calculator manufacturers) by
day and playing computer hobbyist by night, tinkering with the early computer kits like
the Altair. "All the little computer kits that were being touted to hobbyists in 1975 were
square or rectangular boxes with non understandable switches on them..." claimed
Wozniak. Wozniak realized that the prices of some computer parts
(e.g. microprocessors and memory chips) had gotten so low that he could buy them with
maybe a month's salary. Wozniak decided that, with some help from fellow hobbyist
Steve Jobs, they could build their own computer.
On April Fool's Day, 1976, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs released the Apple I computer
and started Apple Computers. The Apple I was the first single circuit board computer. It
came with a video interface, 8k of RAM and a keyboard. The system incorporated some
economical components, including the 6502 processor (only $25 dollars - designed by
Rockwell and produced by MOS Technologies) and dynamic RAM.
