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The Beginnings of Apple Computer
John Burek points out an article written by Stan Veit, former editor-in-chief of Computer Shopper magazine, and one of the first retailers to deal with the fledgling Apple Computer in the late 1970s. Veit describes his introduction to the Apple I and his early interactions with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak as they developed their early models. Quoting:
"After Woz hooked his haywire rig up to the living-room TV, he turned it on, and there on the screen I saw a crude Breakout game in full color! Now I was really amazed. This was much better than the crude color graphics from the Cromemco Dazzler. ... 'How do you like that?' said Jobs, smiling. 'We're going to dump the Apple I and only work on the Apple II.' 'Steve,' I said, 'if you do that you will never sell another computer. You promised BASIC for the Apple I, and most dealers haven't sold the boards they bought from you. If you come out with an improved Model II they will be stuck. Put it on the back burner until you deliver on your promises.'"
From 1986 to 1996, Microsoft's stock soared more than a hundredfold as the company's Windows operating system and Office applications dominated the PC industry.
That explosive climb made millionaires of employees who had accepted options as a substantial part of their compensation for 60-hour workweeks fueled by a diet of Twinkies, Coca-Cola and marshmallow Peeps. The sudden riches led many to refer to themselves as "lottery winners.
"While the exact number is not known, it is reasonable to assume that there were approximately 10,000 Microsoft millionaires created by the year 2000," said Richard S. Conway Jr., a Seattle economist whom Microsoft hired to study its impact on Washington State. "The wealth that has come to this area is staggering."
The Microsoft Millionaires Come Of Age [May 29, 2005]
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Not everyone draws the winning hand, of course - some simply come into the game too late.
The Few, the Tech-Savvy Few: Option Millionaires [Feb 11, 2007]
For comparison's sake, Microsoft currently employs about 90,000 world-wide.
In 1990, around 6,000.
You left off a significant detail. Allen overheard Gates and Balmer scheming to re-capture the portion of the company that he owned if Allen were to die.
From the link in your post:
Small and mid-sized companies with large non-involved owners who inherit stock are poorly structured. Any founders with a little experience or a little forethought set up buy-sell agreements for exactly this eventuality. Sounds like they didn't have the forethought to set it up at the time of the founding. And so they were working on how to deal with the reality that one of their largest shareholders was facing the real possibility of death.
Bill Gates has done some awful things, but I don't think this is one of them.
The Mac released in 1984. Several Apple IIs, including the relatively sophisticated IIGS, came out after the Mac was released, and Apple continued making the IIGS until the early nineties. If you'd complained about buying an Apple I, Apple III, or Lisa, I could have agreed with you, but the Apple II continued to be made long after it was effectively obsolete. Of the old eight bitters, only the Commodore 64 lasted longer, and the Commodore 128 was never nearly the upgrade the IIGS was.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I read about this awhile go ago and thought it was relevant. For those that are still addicted to the Apple I, there is a functional replica with a few extra features. http://www.brielcomputers.com/replica1.html Just thought someone might get a kick out of it.
Restore the madness of youth's lechery
My understanding by reading "On the Edge" and looking at some microcomputer sales charts that used to be on the web is that Apple was in 3rd place behind PET and TRS-80 *until* the spreadsheet started to take off, around 1981.
This happened largely out of happenstance. The budget-tight VisiCalc programmers simply couldn't get access to PET's and TRS's at the time, but an Apple II was available for their use. Thus, they programmed VisiCalc on and for the Apple first. When VisiCalc started selling well, Apple was the only computer VisiCalc ran on. This is when Apple pulled ahead of PET (and prompted Commodore to produce the C-64).
VisiCalc was eventually ported to other computers, but Apple got a big boost for being first with it. VisiCalc (and later clones) had a huge influence on turning microcomputers from hobby machines into a serious market. Apple probably would not have the funds to produce the Mac if not for spreadsheet revenue, and flounder like most others when IBM PC clones commoditized the market. Apple is the only proprietary microcomputer vendor from the early years I know of to survive this commoditization. (There may still be some very nichy vendors around.)
Apple also rode a second software revolution: Desktop publishing. Commodore Amiga narrowly missed this opportunity.
Thus, luck played a large part in Apple's survival.
Table-ized A.I.
There are a number of characteristics of good managers (risk taking, the ability to give negative feedback, and the drive to leverage other peoples work) that sociopaths are pretty good at. That's not to say that only sociopaths are good managers, but they are better managers than the average Joe.
In 2004, Woz gave a great presentation about his early work at Gnomedex 4.0.
"The Gnomedex Geeks-Gone-Wild crowd was fixated on this rare and brilliant presentation by Steve Wozniak, a true geek's geek. His playing started with games and pranks, crystal-set radios, reading Popular Electronics. Then he met Captain Crunch and got into telco-busting Blue Boxes.
Woz wanted to be an HP engineer forever and never thought he'd start a company, but his friend, Steve Jobs, said, "Let's sell it!" at every opportunity. Good thing he did, and good thing HP turned down Woz's offer for the rights to build what would become Apple's first computer. You'll enjoy this -- one of the best from Gnomedex 4.0."
The recordings are still available in MP3 form:
Part 1: http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail214.html
Part 2: http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail215.html
Direct links to the MP3s:
http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/audio/download/Steve%20Wozniak%20Part%201%20-%20Gnomedex%204.0.mp3
http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/audio/download/Steve%20Wozniak%20Part%202%20-%20Gnomedex%204.0.mp3