Apple Computer
Jobs and Wozniak put together their first computer,called Apple I.They marketed it in 1976 at a price of $666.Apple I was the first single-board computer with built-in video interface,and on-board ROM,which told the machine how to load other programs from an external source.Jobs was marketing Apple I at hobbyists like members of the Homebrew Computer Club who could now perform their own operations on their personal computers.
The Next Step
Jobs sold over $20 million of his Apple stock,spent days bicycling along the beach,feeling sad and lost,toured Paris,and journeyed on to Italy.It was not until late August that he began to catch his breath.Then Jobs thought back on his experience at Apple.Though he is not an engineer,he felt his greatest talent had been spearheading development of new products.Jobs also recalled with special pride that he had helped introduce personal computers into education.To collect his thoughts one day,he took up pen and paper and began to write down the things that were important to him.Along with the development of Macintosh,he listed three educational projects he had launched:Kids Can't Wait,Apple Education Foundation,and the Apple University Consortium.
A Software Company
After leaving Apple,Jobs' new revolutionary ideas were not in hardware but software of the computer industry.In 1989 Jobs tried all over again with a new company called NextStep.He planned to build the next generation of personal computers that would put Apple to shame.It failed.After eight long years of struggle and after spending some $250 million,NextStep closed down its hardware division in 1993.Jobs realized that he was not going to revolutionize the hardware industry.He turned his attention to the software side of the computer industry.
Honors
He was awarded the National Medal of Technology from President Ronald Reagan in 1985 with Steve Wozniak (the first people to ever receive the honor),and the Jefferson Award for Public Service in the category "Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under" in 1987.On November 27,2007,Jobs was named the most powerful person in business by Fortune Magazine.On December 5,2007,California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Jobs into the California Hall of Fame,located at The California Museum for History,Women and the Arts.