1977

Apple II

Steve Jobs (1955–2011), Steve Wozniak (b. 1950), Randy Wigginton (dates unavailable)

If the Altair 8800 was the machine that put computers in the hands of individual hobbyists, then the Apple II was the machine that put computers in the hands of everyday people. Steve Wozniak, the lead designer, and Randy Wigginton, the programmer, demonstrated the first prototype at the legendary Homebrew Computer Club in December 1976 and, along with Steve Jobs, the team’s financial wizard and chief promoter, introduced it to the public in April 1977 at the West Coast Computer Faire. The Apple II was the first successful mass-produced personal computer.

The Apple II was based on the Apple I, which Wozniak designed and built himself. The Apple I was sold as a single-board computer: purchasers needed to supply their own keyboard, monitor—or a television and a radio frequency (RF) modulator—and a case. The Apple II, in contrast, came with keyboard and case, although it still needed an RF modulator to display on a TV.

The Apple II was widely popular with techies, schools, and the general consumer.

It offered BASIC in ROM, so users could start to write and run programs as soon the machine powered on. It came with a reliable audiocassette interface, making it easy to save and load programs on a low-cost, consumer-grade cassette deck. It even had color text, a first for the industry.

In 1978, Apple introduced a low-cost 5¼-inch external floppy drive, which used software and innovative circuit design to eliminate electronic components. Faster and more reliable than the cassette, and capable of random access, the disk turned the Apple II from a curiosity into a serious tool for education and business. Then in 1979, VisiCalc®, the first personal spreadsheet program, was introduced. Designed specifically to run on the Apple II, VisiCalc helped drive new sales of the computer.

The Apple II was a runaway success, with Apple’s revenues growing from $775,000 to $118 million from September 1977 through September 1980. Apple ultimately released seven major versions of the Apple II. Between 5 million and 6 million computers would ultimately be sold.

Apple II advertisement from the December 1977 issue of BYTE magazine.