Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
6
The Woz and Steve Jobs
"To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can
continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines.
"
- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple
Throughout the 1970s, businesses continued to focus on the use of mainframes and minis
for the bulk of their computing tasks, while in the realm of office automation firms like Viat-
ron, Xerox and Wang Labs set about marketing dedicated word-processing systems. Wang,
in particular, met with quite a bit of success through its WPS (Wang Word Processing Sys-
tem) launched in June of 1976.
A rudimentary system incorporating hard disk storage went for $30,000. Given the fact
that typists at the time worked for an average wage of between $1.25 and $1.50 per hour, the
economics of the system generally did not make much sense under the scrutiny of a rigorous
cost-benefit analysis. But the romance of the machine took hold, at least for a time. Ultim-
ately, the days of dedicated word processors were to be quite limited - lasting not more than
a decade or so before PCs would take offices by storm.
One of the first machines to make this inroad was to be the Apple II, which had its roots
in the Homebrew Computer Club.
Steve Wozniak had, for years, fantasized about and conceptualized one small personal
computer after another, setting their specs down on paper, and dreaming of the day when
chip technology would catch up with his singular vision. Woz had even gone so far as to
write FORTRAN compilers and BASIC interpreters for these vaporous machines.
In April of 1974, along came the 8080 chip which, though it made Woz's vision suddenly
practical, lay way beyond his budget at $179. Not long after, Woz discovered another chip
option - one far more elegant and far more affordable. The operations of the Motorola 6800
resembled those of the Data General Nova minicomputer, which Woz thought particularly
efficient. As a bonus, a near-identical clone of the 6800 - MOS Technology's 6502 - sold for
just $25.00. (The price for the Motorola chip was equivalent to that of the 8080 at $175.)
Wozniak promptly wrote a BASIC interpreter for the 6502. At the same time, he and
a colleague took a Hewlett-Packard mini and programmed it to simulate the function of
the 6502. Here, on this machine, Wozniak worked whenever time allowed, and tested his
routines. Once the BASIC interpreter was bulletproof, he turned his attention to designing
the hardware he could run it on.
In a dramatic innovation, Wozniak enabled his machine with connections for a keyboard
(sold separately and to be installed by the user) - a vast improvement over the Altair's se-
quence of front panel switches. As well, he created connections whereby a television set
