Steve Wozniak: The Early Years

History might refer to him as 'the other Steve', but Steve Wozniak’s many achievements have put him in the pantheon of the greatest tech innovators of all time. Join us and take a Time Machine back to track the early days of 'The Woz'.

A tinkerer and a prankster

Stephen Gary Wozniak was born in August 1950 to Margaret and Francis 'Jerry' Wozniak, in San Jose. His father was an engineer at Lockheed, and young Steve grew up with a love for Star Trek and a proclivity for tinkering with things.

Woz attended Homestead High School in Cupertino, where he met and befriended Bill Fernandez, who'd go on to become the first employee at Apple. He also displayed a penchant for playing pranks, a trait that would get him in trouble after he graduated.  

After high school, Wozniak attended University of Colorado Boulder. While there, he hacked the institution's computer system to send prank messages.

The administration didn't find this funny. He was expelled.

Creating Cream Soda

Wozniak returned to the Bay Area, and eventually ended up at University of California, Berkeley. At this time, he designed and built a computer with the help of Bill Fernandez.

This would be the precursor to the legendary Apple I and II. It was called... 'Cream Soda'.

Impressive as it was, Cream Soda's life came to a premature end when someone stepped on and damaged its power cord. Wozniak would then take his love for designing electronics to work at HP, where he reportedly worked on everything from calculators to mainframes.

Steve, meet Steve

It was around this time that Fernandez introduced Wozniak to Steve Jobs, another Homestead alum, who also had an interest in playing pranks. The two became friends, and their bond grew stronger when Jobs spent a summer working at HP.

This was also the time when 'blue boxes' began gaining popularity.

ℹ Blue Boxes were small devices that allowed users to manipulate the signaling system used by telephones to gain privileges usually reserved for operators, and make free long distance calls.

Wozniak began tinkering with his own version, and came up with an elegant solution that garnered interest among the phone hacking community, commonly referred to as 'phreakers'. This would earn him the nickname 'Berkeley Blue'.

By our powers combined...

Jobs, ever the savvy marketer, was quick to see the potential in Wozniak's creation, and suggested they sell them and split the profit. He managed to sell about 200 of Wozniak's blue boxes at $150 a piece.

The blue box fever came to an end when telephone systems evolved to become tamper proof. However, Wozniak would continue to prove that his engineering and design prowess was beyond the ordinary.

In 1973, when Jobs was working at the legendary game company @atari, he approached Wozniak for help in reducing the number of chips used by the arcade game 'Breakout'.

He managed to reduce the number by 50. 👀

Two years later, in a bid to impress Palo Alto's popular Homebrew Computer Club, Wozniak designed a computer that could run programs and display some characters on a screen without advanced requirements.

He single-handedly designed the hardware, chips, and OS.

Wozniak reportedly offered the design to HP multiple times, but was turned down. It was then that Jobs stepped in and suggested the two go into business together.

Crafting the future

On April 1, 1976, the two formed the Apple Computer Company.

Wozniak's design became the Apple I.

The duo went to Homebrew Computer Club and presented the Apple I to a favourable response. A computer shop owner who was in attendance ordered 50 units at $500 a piece.

They would assemble the computers at the California home belonging to Jobs' parents.

About 200 Apple I computers were produced, and the company soon procured funding and success. Wozniak went on to design the Apple II and the Disk II floppy disk drive as a faster storage system.

He also oversaw the initial design and development of the Macintosh.

Apple went public in 1980 and garnered massive acclaim and capital. The story of Apple is well documented, but Wozniak's own life took a very different route after a fateful plane crash in 1981.

A journey of exploration

In February 1981, a plane piloted by Wozniak carrying his then fiancée Candice, her brother, and his girlfriend crashed shortly after take off in California.

The incident left him with anterograde amnesia, leading to a leave of absence from Apple.

The 30 year old Wozniak spent his time on the mend playing Apple II computer games, which he claims helped him recover his memory. He also re-enrolled at Berkeley — where he'd dropped out from — under a nickname to complete his education.

By 1983, Wozniak returned to Apple and designed more tech that would underpin future Macintosh models, but after becoming increasingly disillusioned by how the Apple II (which was still the company's main money maker) was treated, he left the company in 1985.

Wozniak's life post Apple has ranged from designing a programmable universal remote to indulging his love for pop culture with Silicon Valley Comic Con. Today, he is a leading philanthropist, supports eco friendly projects, and focuses on edtech.

Despite his less than ideal departure from Apple, Woz's name remains on its employee list, and he continues to represent the company at some events. After all, the legend of Apple began with a simple system he built on his own.

That was our peek behind the curtain at the life of Steve Wozniak. If you liked what you read, do share it so others might enjoy this post as well.

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