Return to the Little Kingdom

by Michael Moritz

  The iPhone, in some respects, came to be a throwback to the beginning of Apple and the way in which software developers all over the world had been encouraged to write programs for the Apple II. In a fashion that had not occurred since Microsoft had developed an army of software mercenaries trooping after its DOS and Windows operating systems, the iPhone ignited an explosion of interest from programmers around the world so that now tens of thousands of applications, from the life-saving to frivolous, can be bought with the tap of a finger from Apple’s AppStore.

  Sales of Apple’s Macintosh computers are now outstripped by products that were not even imagined, let alone conceived, at the turn of this century. The popularity of the iPod and iPhone and the accessibility of Apple’s retail store have rejuvenated sales of Macintosh computers, which were also helped by a shift to Intel microprocessors and the constant refinement of its operating system, which has developed a reputation for being more stable and secure than Windows. The overall results are extraordinary, testament to perhaps the most creative industrial turnaround in the history of America. At the end of Jobs’ decade running Apple, an era during which the growth of the personal computer industry had slowed to a pedestrian pace, its sales had risen from $6 billion to $32.5 billion and the price of its stock had, at its peak, multiplied forty-fold.

  During a period when so much was fictitious, when there were so many empires built on air and when frauds were uncloaked, Apple stands is an emblem for daring, ingenuity and enterprise. When so much was piled atop mountains of debt, it is reassuring to know that real earnings and tangible profits can be used to invest in the future. When weak companies scurry to Washington to bleat for Federal bailout money, it is a tonic to realize that nothing is more effective than the spirit of a restless company threatened with extinction. When so many mathematicians and scientists caught the scent of Wall Street and used their skills to construct futile risk models, it was delightful to know that some of their contemporaries had spurned the lure of Manhattan high-rises and, instead, had chosen to write code or program chips, without which Apple’s devices would never have materialized. When entry visas and work permits were being refused to the brightest from overseas, it was all the more meaningful to see that Apple’s engineering ranks were teeming with immigrants and first-generation Americans. When other companies had rushed new products into the market with scarcely a nod to design and finish, it was a relief to see a demonstration that aesthetics and attention to detail really make a difference. If ever there was a company that demonstrated an application of the exhortation “Yes we can,” it was the Apple of the last ten years.

  As with all books about business, this has been a tale of yesterday and today. And, as with all stories of success, this has been a triumph of human will. Now lies tomorrow. No technology company has ever been able to consistently produce great consumer products for half a century. So for Apple there is the inevitable question, what comes next?Can it continue to produce encore performances? Will the corpus always think and act differently? At a time of fears and concerns for Steve Jobs’ health following the disclosure of his liver transplant, it’s natural to wonder who might someday succeed the man whose identity and fate is so closely tied to the company? How will Apple avoid the fate of SONY following the retirement of Akio Morita? Will Apple’s next chief possess enough of an owner’s instincts not to keep stopping in his tracks and wondering, “What would Steve do?” Finally, there is the ultimate barometer reading for any technology company—whether it can stay youthful in spirit. This means answering the most testing question of all. What will keep the scintillating twenty-three year old engineers in the world’s greatest colleges and universities yearning to hear word that they have been offered a job at the company formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc.?

  INDEX

  A

  Advertising

  Albrecht, Robert

  Alcorn, Al

  All One Farm

  Alpert, Richard

  Altair

  Alto Computer

  American Telephone and Telegraph, phone phreaks and

  Apple computer, first: built at Jobs’ family home; conflicts over; and contract between Jobs, Wozniak, and Wayne; efforts to find power supply for; first prices for; first reactions to ; first sale to Byte Shops of ; Holt and; introduced at Homebrew Club in 1976, ; modifications made to ; pricing of; and Wozniak’s early designs for microprocessor . See also Apple II; Apple IIe

  Apple Computer Company: first management of; at First West Coast Computer Faire; logo for; official formation of . See also Apple Computer, Inc.

  Apple Computer, Inc.: advertising meetings at ; Apple culture and ; Apple IIe and; arrogance of; attitude toward technical writers; beginnings of; Black Wednesday firings at; bureaucracy at ; competition and ; competition with IBM ; and completion of Macintosh; corporate culture of; dealers and ; early growth of ; early marketing strategy of; employee turnover at; fan clubs for; finances in 1977, ; financing of ,

  Apple Computer, Inc. (cont’d.) ; first headquarters of; first marketing campaign of; first staff of; formation of divisions by; future of; gifts of computers to educational institutions from; hiring binge in fall of 1980, ; imitators of; impact of rapid growth on; impact of wealth on; introduction of Macintosh by; Japanese market and; Jobs’ hesitancies over forming ; Mac division weekly lunch meeting; meeting with bank managers; meeting on publicizing Mac; meetings at; moves to larger headquarters; near failure in 1977, ; new products research at; overseas sales of; personnel recruitment by; press relations of; and problems with Apple III, ; professionalization of; public relations problems of ; public stock offering by ; reasons for studying; rise to top position ; rumored merger with IBM; Sculley’s role at ; staff relations in 1977, stock distributions or options to buy of; success of; tensions between newcomers to; Terrell and; use of Pascal by; users groups and; Visicalc and ; Wayne and; work retreat for Macintosh Division; workers’ benefits at; worth of; Xerox Corporation and

  Apple II personal computer; case design for; contributors to; development of; discussion on pricing of; disk drive added to; introduced at First West Coast Computer Faire; manuals for; rankings; software for

  Apple III

  Apple Writer

  ARPANET

  Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Stanford

  Atari; history of; Jobs works for

  Atkinson, Bill

  Auricchio, Rick

  AUTOVON

  B

  Baba, Neem Karolie

  Baez, Joan

  BASIC, used for Wozniak’s microcomputer

  Baum, Allen; builds computers with Wozniak; and Homebrew Computer Club ; lends Jobs and Wozniak money for Apple Computer, Inc. ; Wozniak and

  Baum, Elmer; Apple stocks and ; hired by Apple Computer; lends Jobs and Wozniak money for Apple Computer, Inc.

  Belleville, Bob

  Biggs, Barton

  Blue boxes

  Boich, Michael

  Bowers, Ann

  Breakout (video game)

  Bricklin, Daniel

  Bruener, Don

  Budge, William

  Buffet, Jimmy

  Burge, Frank

  Bushnell, Nolan

  Byte Shops

  C

  Caen, Herb

  Call Computer

  Cantin, Howard

  Capps, Steve

  Carson, Johnny

  Carter, Gene

  Carter, Matt

  Cavett, Dick

  Charlie Board, The

  Chaudhari, Wasu

  Chiat-Day advertising agency, and advertising for Apple Computer, Inc.

  Chino, Kobin

  Clark, Candi

  Clow, Lee

  Coleman, Debi

  Commodore Business Machines

  Community Memory Project

  Compucolor

  Computer Conversor Corporation

  Computer Space (video game)

  Computerland

  Consumer Electronics Show
r />   Continental Illinois Bank, Chicago

  Cornfeld, Bernie

  Couch, John

  Cream Soda Computer

  Crocker Bank

  Cromemco

  Crunch, Captain. See also Draper, John

  Cummings, Burt

  D

  Dali, Paul

  Data General

  Davidow, William

  Davis, Tommy

  Dazzler

  DEC LSl-11

  Di Franco, Salvatore

  Digital Electronics Corporation

  Digital Equipment Corporation

  Disk drives, Apple II and. See also Twiggy

  Dr. Pong (video game)

  Draper, John; Charlie Board and; Easywriter and; Wozniak and Jobs and

  Dudman, Jack

  Dylan, Bob

  E

  Easywriter (word-processing program)

  Eddy, Jonathan

  Ehret, Arnold

  Elliot, Jay

  Elzig, Hal

  Engelbart, Douglas

  Engressia, Joe

  Espinosa, Chris ; Apple II and; on distribution of Apple stocks and options; professionalization of Apple and; on Wozniak

  Esquire

  F

  Faber, Ed

  Family Computer, The

  Felsenstein, Lee on Apple II, ; attitude toward microprocessors

  Fernandez, Bill ; Apple stocks and; helps Wozniak and Baum build their first computer; hired by Jobs; relationship with Wozniak and Jobs; role at Apple Computer in 1977,

  Fial, Ron

  Finley, Charlie

  Folkedal, Tor

  Folley, Clyde

  Folon, Jean-Michel

  Fortune

  Franklin Computer Corporation

  Free University of Palo Alto

  French, Gordon. See also Homebrew Computer Club

  Friedland, Robert; Jobs and

  Fylstra, Daniel

  G

  Gates, William

  Genentech

  Ghiringelli, Paola

  Gibbons, Fred

  Ginsberg, Allen

  Goffen, Linda

  Goldberg, Fred

  Goldman, Maurice

  Good, Timothy

  Gould, Irving

  Gran Trak (video game)

  Grove, Andrew

  H

  Hall, John

  Hambrecht and Quist

  Hare Krishna temple, Portland, Oregon

  Hawkins, Trip

  Helmers, Carl

  Hertzfeld, Andy; background ; completion of Mac and ; tests Lisa

  Hewlett-Packard; Apple Computer recruits personnel from; rejects Wozniak’s microcomputer; Wozniak leaves; Wozniak works for

  Hill, Imogene “Teddy,”

  Hoar, Fred

  Hoffman, Abbie

  Hoffman, Joanna

  Holmes, Elizabeth

  Holt, Frederick Rodney ; background; changes at Apple Computer and; development of Apple Computer and; on distribution of stocks and options ; financial worth of; on firings at Apple Computer ; impact of wealth on ; on Jobs; Markkula and; power supply for Apple II and; professionalization of Apple Computer and; on recruits from Hewlett-Packard; role in 1977; on Scott’s forced resignation; on Wozniak

  Homebrew Computer Club ; Apple computer introduced at; attitude toward professionalization of Apple Computer; First West Coast Computer Faire and; and Intel 8080; Jobs and; Kamradt and; Wozniak and; Wozniak’s computer and; Wozniak’s teenage camp followers and

  Homestead High School, Cupertino, Ca.

  Horn, Hap

  Hunt the Wumpus (video game)

  Huston, Dick

  I

  IBM; competition with Apple Computer ; history of ; rumored merger with Apple Computer

  IBM Personal Computer

  Inc

  Infeld, Lewis

  Intel

  Interface Age

  Investment bankers, Apple’s public offering and

  J

  Janov, Arthur

  Janov, Rob

  Japanese computers

  Jobs, Clara

  Jobs, Patty

  Jobs, Paul; background of; first Apple Computer headquarters in home of ; life in Mountain View, Ca.

  Jobs, Steven: and addition of disk drive to Apple II; advertising for Apple computers and; advice from Chino on going into business; attitude toward corporate culture; attitude toward corporations; attitude toward engineering career; attitude toward Homebrew Computer Club; attitude toward unions ; attitude toward work conditions ; becomes phone phreak; changes at Apple Computer and; childhood of ; Commodore’s efforts to buy Apple Computer and ; competes with Kamradt for Wozniak; decision to go public; dietary beliefs ; distribution of Apple Computer stocks and; Draper and; fears about going into business; financial worth of; financing of Apple Computer and ; firings at Apple Computer and ; and first reactions to Apple Computer; Friedland and ; on Friedland; future of Apple Computer and; growth of Apple Computer and; high school days; hires Fernandez ; at Homestead High School; IBM Personal Computer and; impact of wealth on ; interest in Zen Buddhism ; introduction of Macintosh and; Kamradt and; leaves Reed College and works at Atari; Lisa and; lives on Friedland’s communal farm; Mac project and ; manuals and; Markkula and; meeting on publicity for Mac; meets Stephen Wozniak; moves to Cupertino School District; personal problems in 1977; and preparation of Apple II for First West Coast Computer Faire ; in primal scream therapy ; and Raskin’s suggestions for improvements; at Reed College; relationship with Fernandez; relationship with Kottke; relationship with Rogers; relationship with Scott; relationship with Smith and Hertzfeld; relationship with Wozniak; Rogers’ daughter and; role at Apple Computer ; and sales of Apple Computer stocks; and Scott as president of Apple Computer; Scott’s forced resignation and; software and marketing issues and; software programmers and; speech to Stanford University students; trip to India with Kottke; Twiggy project and; use of drugs in high school; at weekly lunch meeting at Mac division ; at work retreat; works at Atari; works at Hewlett-Packard; Wozniak’s changes in Apple computer and; Wozniak’s computer and; on Wozniak’s sale of stocks

  K

  Kaiser Cement, development of Silicon Valley and

  Kamradt, Alex ; Jobs and; Wozniak and

  Kay, Alan

  Kee Games

  Kentucky Fried Computers

  Kesey, Ken

  Kierulff Electronics, Palo Alto

  Kildall, Gary

  Klein, Marcia

  Kottke, Dan; Apple stocks and; and first Apple computer; hired by Apple Computer; relationship with Jobs; relationship with Jobs and Rogers; trip to India with Jobs

  Kramlich, Richard

  L

  Leary, Timothy

  Lewin, Dan’l

  Licht, Hildy

  Lisa; advertising meeting on; introduction of; Mac and; preview of ; sales techniques for

  Lisaguide

  Livingston, Sherry ; Apple stocks and; on Apple III

  Lockheed Corporation: changed image of; impact of missile division on Santa Clara Valley

  Lutus, Paul

  M

  McCollum, John

  Macintosh computer (Mac): advertising for; competition problems; headquarters for; history of; introduction of; marketing of; meeting on publicizing of; pricing of ; weekly lunch meeting on ; work session on introduction of

  McKenna, Regis; background; bureaucratization of Apple Computer and; growth of Apple Computer and; handling of press by

  Mannock, Jerry

  Markkula, Mike; attitude toward work conditions; choice of Scott as president of Apple Computer; complaints about Scott to; Draper and ; financial worth of; and First West Coast Computer Faire ; IBM Personal Computer and; impact of wealth on ; invests in Apple Computer ; management-employee relations and; marketing and ; problems between Jobs and Scott and; recruitment from Intel and; resignation of Scott and; retires as president; role in attracting investors to Apple; role in 1977; sale

  Markkula, Mike (cont’d.)
of Apple stocks and; status at Apple; stock options and; on Whitney

  Martin, Gary

  Martindale, Jim

  Mattel

  Mauro, Chuck

  Maytag, Fritz

  Melmon, Richard

  Microcomputers: disk drives and ; impact on Homebrew Computer Club

  “Micro-8 Newsletter,”

  Microprocessors; impact of ; prices in 1975

  Milledge, Vicki

  Millek, Marek

  Minsky, Marvin

  MITS

  Mollard, Roy

  Moody, Bob

  Moore, Fred; background ; and Community Memory Project; and Homebrew Computer Club

  Morgan Stanley

  Morris, Anthony

  MOS Technology

  Motorola 6800 microprocessor

  Murray, Michael

  N

  National Computer Conference

  National Semiconductor

  Newsweek

  Newton, Bob

  Nixon, Richard

  Nold, Ellen

  Nova microcomputer

  Noyce, Robert

  O

  Opel, John

  Oregon Feeling Center

  Osborne, Adam

  Osborne Computers

  P

  PARC

  Pascal

  Peddle, Charles H.

  Penny Arcade (video game)

  Penthouse

  People’s Computer Company

  Personal Software