Apple computer history as told by Computer Shopper magazine editor Stan Veit

The story of Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Apple Inc. has been told many times from many different points of view. You can read a myriad of magazine articles and books telling the story of how two young men with a passion and a dream managed to create one of the most influential technology companies in modern history. Apple's struggle against Microsoft and the rivalry between Jobs and Gates is a story worth its weight in gold having fascinated all of us time after time after time. After barely surviving a number of very difficult years in the nineties, Apple has risen practically from the dead to dominate the technology sector with a large number of innovate products such as the iPod, iPhone, and Mac OS X.

Most readers of this blog are probably familiar with Apple's history so why am I writing this? Here is my reason for this post.

I recently came across a magazine article written by former Computer Shopper editor (the magazine's first editor) Stan Veit. He gives a brief overview of his introduction to the two Apple co-founders and their efforts to create and market the most innovative digital computer in the 70s. Veit tells an incredible story of receiving his first Apple I computer in the mail directly from Steve Jobs for a product review in the magazine. He tells about his efforts to help the two young men promote their new computer at the first national computer show in Atlantic City (he provided them with ample space in his demo booth) and the buzz this created for the small company allowing Jobs and Wozniak to make the right connections and turn Apple Inc. to one of the most important technology companies of this century.

Veit also explains his reasons for refusing to invest in the company for a 10% stake at a very early stage. He also goes on to talk about his impression of both Jobs and Wozniak. He describes the large difference in personality between the two (this is a well known and documented fact.) Wozniak has always been the most liked founder of the two men because he always treated other people well and he really loved and fully enjoyed designing and building Apple's computers.

The story concludes with a twist which I honestly didn't see coming. I won't give it away here because I think it is worth one's time to read the entire article as written by Veit. If you want to learn about the personal computer revolution from someone who lived it then you should read the full article following the link below.

Read: Apple Computer: The (Very) Early Years.