Microsoft co-founders Paul Allen and Bill Gates
"Paul Allen and Bill Gates." 1978, Microsoft Corporate Archive.
Bright Minds Take an Interest in Computing
High School Prodigies
Young Bill Gates
Hertzfeld, Andy. Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Edited by Steve Wozniak, Kindle ed., O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.
Bill Gates was a mathematically minded, inquisitive child who found a passion for computer programming in high school. With the help of his friend Paul Allen, Gates designed a class-scheduling program for school and a traffic analysis program called Traf-O-Data. Excited by the release of the Altair 8800, Paul Allen then recruited Gates to help write a condensed operating system to sell to the manufacturers of the Altair 8800. They continued writing operating systems aimed for the general market, leading to the creation of Microsoft Corporation in 1975.
A young Bill Gates working on a personal computer
"Bill Gates, co-founder and head of computer software company Microsoft." American Decades Primary Sources, edited by Cynthia Rose, vol. 9: 1980-1989.
Homebrew Computer Club
Moore, Fred."Amateur Computer Users Group." Homebrew Computer Club, vol.1 no.1, 15 Mar. 1975, p.1.
In the late 60s and early 70s, the developments in computer technology piqued the interests of young college students. These bright minds formed the Homebrew Computer Club, a forum for computer hobbyists. Little did they know, the greatest names in the computer industry would emerge from their club.
Homebrew Computer Club meeting in California
Felsenstein, Lee. "Homebrew Computer Club meeting." 1978, Computer History Museum.
"I expect home computers will be used in unconventional ways - most of which no one has though of yet."
-Fred Moore, editor of the Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter
Dropouts in a Garage with a Vision
Apple I Computer
Richards, Mark. "Appple-1." 1976, Dysan Corporation.
In 1977, two members of the Homebrew Computer Club developed their own personal computer model. Steven Wozniak, a 25 year-old college-dropout and computer engineer, invented the first Apple computer in his garage in Sunnyvale, California. The single-board computer with BASIC language programming cost $666.66. He recruited his friend and businessman, Steven Jobs, to help him market his product. They moved out of the garage and began hiring employees to manufacture their computers. Apple Inc. was formed.
"I really wanted the world to see that you don't have to imagine that every computer cost, you know, $10,000 or something. And yet, it was a complete computer with enough memory."
- Steve Wozniak on the invention of the Apple 1
Plutte, Jon, producer. Steve Wozniak: The Homebrew Computer Club and the Apple I. Produced by Aimee Gardner, edited by David Richardson, Computer History Museum, 2011.
Jobs and Wozniak working on Apple I
Melena, Joe. "Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak with Apple-1." 1976, Apple Computer, Inc.