Stories

The remarkable and not wave-soldered Scardino Apple-1

In 2022 a family contacted the Apple-1 Registry. The (grand-)father of the 3 people passed away and he had an Apple-1.

As it turned out, it is the most unusual and, from a historical point of view, the most interesting (except for the prototypes, of course) original Apple-1.
This Apple-1 was given as a bare board by Steve Jobs to Homebrew Computer Club member James J. Scardino. Woz gave James his instructions for building an Apple-1.

James best friend was Dick Sherman who was more into the 6800 and founded the 6800 club.

The history of this computer is phenomenal. James worked on it for some time and according to his daughter James spend many weeks in Steve Jobs’ parents’ garage. He liked Jobs and finally in 1976 the Apple-1 worked. The Scardino Apple-1 really looks like a homemade computer.

James heirs talked in 2022 a lot to Apple-1 Registry curator Achim Baqué. This Apple-1 was published in the Apple-1 Registry as #99 ‘James J. Scardino’.

It is so far the only existing Apple-1 (except the prototype) that was not wave-soldered! No peeling or bubbles on the back. Original Apple-1 mainboard, original ACI, original PROMs, original manuals were sold by Steve Jobs in 1976. Woz confirmed in February 2023 that Apple-1 had some boards that were blank. The owner built a printer interface for the Apple-1 in 1976. It is inside the wooden case.

We promised each other to stay in touch. The daughter of James asked Achim if he is interested in the computer. It was the wish of her father and the express wish of the family, that this computer should go to a museum or to an enthusiasts who would really appreciate this unique Apple-1.

Actually, the family wanted to keep the computer. After talking about it within the family for two months, they came to the decision that Achim could buy the computer if he wanted to. Everyone quickly agreed on the price.

In February 2023 Achim flew to San Francisco. His short version of very interesting two days in the Bay Area:
On the first day I visited two hours the Stanford University, had a look to the Apple collection and talked two hours to a professor about early Apple days.

Later that day I visited several hours Apple Park and walked some miles all around inside and outside. Highlights were the buildings itself and the meeting with Arion Paylo and Chris Espinosa (Apple employee #8). We talked so much and it was so interesting and fascinating. Apple Park is a masterpiece of architecture and design. In every detail. I was allowed to make pictures outside.

Day two was to meet Daniel Kottke again and meet there later the wonderful family who owns one of the most interesting Apple-1. If not the most interesting from a historical point of view. The Scardino Apple-1.

Steve Wozniak gave away his schematics and all information to build this Apple-1. So far, no other Apple-1 built by a Homebrew Computer Club member has been found. And here we go, it was done by James Scardino who talked a lot to Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. James Scardino met Woz for the first time at the Homebrew Computer club. Best friend of James was Dick Sherman who was more into the 6800 and founded the 6800 club. James bought from Steve Jobs the original BLANK Apple-1 and ACI boards and all four PROMs. Woz told me, that Steve Jobs didn’t tell him about the sale.
Everything else was done at James’ home and on weekends in Steve Jobs’ parents’ garage. James liked to hang around there. This Apple-1 is hand-soldered (not wave-soldered) and for that reason it has zero peeling or bubbles! It looks like from a factory belt. But it looks not brand new. It is another wonderful example of people really using the Apple-1 to understand and work with an Apple-1. It was not used like a museums item. James Scardino had really good soldering skills. Woz was really impressed and so he wrote to me recently that he could not have it soldered so good.
This Apple-1 worked in 1976. During my day two Daniel Kottke switched it on and it worked instantly 40+ years after the last start.
I am the new proud owner of this historical important Apple-1 and I took this Apple-1 and the huge wooden case on my flight back home. Thank you again, Lufthansa.

There is even more than just the Apple-1 and ACI. Original manuals, more handwritten stuff, a hand-build wooden case (Mahogany) that looks a bit like the Byte Shop cases, keyboard and transformer. And some documents that everyone believed that they are gone. Those four documents are copies from 1976. More information about these docs will be published later.
I told Woz about it and he was really excited and asked if he could have a copy.
Same second day of my visit Woz asked if we could meet for dinner and so we met. Woz, his wife, a man from the early computer days and me. Woz has now the copies of the ‘lost’ documents and thankfully he signed the Scardino Apple-1. We talked a lot. Fallowed by some emails we exchanged.

More information will fallow someday.

The first 12 Apple-1s in Europe and a letter from Steve Jobs

In 2018, a German industrialist contacted Achim Baqué (Apple-1 Registry). His name is Peter Vizenetz. He would have information and a story regarding Apple-1 computers. There were phone conversations and Mr. Vizenetz recorded an interview (in German) of over 24 minutes for Achim Baqué. The entire story of the first Apple-1 in Europe is included.
In 2021, another contact with an owner of an original Apple 1 computer put the pieces of the puzzle together. 2022 it was time to publish the news.

Peter Vizenetz remarkable story:
Mr. Vizenetz flew with his family from Munich to the USA on vacation in 1976 and read about a young company in Silicon Valley in a trade magazine. It was supposed to be a single board computer with a character generator. Mr. Vizenetz drove to Silicon Valley in his motor home and visited Steve Jobs in his parents' famous garage. Jobs' 'office' was next to his father's garden tools. Jobs and Vizenetz got along well. Mr. Vizenetz was looking for a computer for process computing in automation.

Immediately he took two Apple-1 (1st Batch) and later bought 10 more Apple-1 according to him.

Thus, in 1977, there were 12 Apple-1s in Germany. The experiments of the engineers in Mr. Vizenetz's company with the Apple-1 were not successful and other computers were eventually used. The Apple-1s remained in the possession of Mr. Vizenetz.

Incidentally, Mr. Vizenetz, Mr. Breidenbach Senior and one other person visited Apple in 1977. Mr. Breidenbach Senior was his business partner. They were received by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and the 'sales manager' who invited them to dinner. They were very interested in a European foothold.

Steve Jobs was very interested in working with Mr. Vizenetz. After Mike Markulla joined Apple, Jobs lost interest in Europe for the time being.

Mr. Breidenbach Senior was to develop a bus control for the Apple-1, which he did. The Apple-1 was also unfortunately unsuitable as a process computer for automation. Mr. Breidenbach continued to develop on the Apple II and Mr. Vizenetz focused on industrial computers.

Mr. Vizenetz gave five Apple-1s to Mr. Breidenbach Senior.

The remaining Apple-1s went to various engineers according to Mr. Vizenetz's recollection. It is unknown whether these are already listed in the registry, as the path can no longer be traced. In 2022, three Apple-1s could be located in Europe.

Mr. Vizenetz wanted to scrap the five Apple-1s still in his possession. The Apple-1s were considered electronic scrap because the Apple II was already on the market. Mr. Breidenbach Senior saved all five Apple-1s.

Mr. Vizenetz contacted Mr. Breidenbach Senior's widow back in May 2019. He recalled that he left some Apple-1s and documents to Mr. Breidenbach Senior. The Breidenbach family did not want to go public at that time.

That at least one Apple-1 is in the possession of the heirs (inlcuding Achim Breidenbach) was no secret. E.g. on this website all kind of information and pictures were published.

Since 2021 Achim Baqué and Achim Breidenbach had contact. He is the son of Mr. Breidenbach Senior, the former business partner of Mr. Vizenetz.

The three Apple-1 are added to the Apple-1 Registry. All are in Germany.

The story continues:
After some time it turned out that the sibling heirs of Mr. Breidenbach senior still have three Apple-1. Achim Breidenbach and the widow Breidenbach remember some details.

Mr. Breidenbach senior exchanged one Apple-1 at Apple Germany for a high-quality Mac. For a long time this Apple-1 hung on the wall in the executive office at Apple Germany, then Apple moved away from Ismaning (Munich). Since then, its whereabouts are unknown. Achim Baqué has a guess. There is a previously unlisted Apple-1 and circumstantial evidence that it could be the missing Apple-1. The information and the pictures of the owner are not allowed to be published yet.

Another Apple-1 was sold by Mr. Breidenbach Senior to a museum in Bern, where it still is today. Fantastic, because this probably clarifies the complete history of another Apple-1.

Three Apple-1s are still in family possession, as mentioned.

There is also a letter from Steve Jobs to Mr. Vizenetz, which is also in the possession of the family. This letter was already published as text many years ago at applefritter. The whereabouts of the letter were unknown until now. A digital copy of the letter is added to Apple-1 #96. And here also once again.

Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop, 'Apple Computer A'

Prototype 'Apple Computer A'

Prototype Before the Apple-1, there was an 'Apple Computer A'. Press release.
Paul Terrell (founder of the Byte Shop) gave Achim Baqué (curator of the Apple-1 Registry, a list of all Apple-1 computer) some information recently. Thanks to Paul’s support and his Polaroids of an early Apple-1 it was a great surprise to zoom into the pictures from 1976. The photos were taken when Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs first showed the Apple-1 to Paul at the Byte Shop. The Polaroids were already published in low resolution, but some characteristics were not noticed so far.

It was not easy to get even a tiny bit of information about the production prototype. Achim Baqué asked Woz, Wendel Sander, Bill Fernandez, Chris Espinosa, Daniel Kottke and Paul Terrell about the production prototype and got answers from all of them. It was not possible to clarify all open questions. Howard Cantin, the designer of the Apple-1 mainboard, may have some answers. Unfortunately, it was not possible to get in touch with him.

Confirming various assumptions took some time and a lot of research was needed. No one remember the prototype. We have only some pictures.

In the left center is on all Apple-1 the text “Apple Computer 1”. However, the prototype states "Apple Computer A © 76". This could be done to mark it as a prototype or maybe the idea was to name the final version this way? Woz doesn't remember why the name was changed.
Now that the mystery of the handwritten number is solved, I will continue to search for information about the prototypes. Well, last years I tried already to collect all information but not much is known. Steve Wozniak mentioned a fire in his garage and maybe the prototype(s) were in this garage. This would have been a terrible loss.
It is an Apple 1 prototype with a different board layout than the later final production series. It was already clear earlier that there are some differences. Thanks to the detailed pictures by Paul Terrell, it is now clear that there are many differences. Some traces are different. There is just a very small jumper section in the middle (above the IC 74154). The small caps are the same used for the 2nd batch. And so on. Unfortunately, only the front side is known/visible.
The Apple-1 prototype has all the extra components of the 6800/6501 CPU instead of the 6502. Woz was sent a photo of the circuit board by the Apple-1 Registry in early 2012 and commented about the production prototype: “This Apple I below was probably about the first Apple I on an Apple PC board. I had left the 6800 space because it was needed for the $20 6501 instead of the $25 6502. The difference was strong clock driver transistors. Paul Terrell may well have gotten a sort-of prototype since his order is really the reason we built Apple I’s with parts installed. We built a couple with the 6501 but by real production time we could get the 6502 for the same cost”. According to this, the prototype was built with a 6501 CPU. For a 6501 you need the same additional components as for the 6800 CPU. The Woz monitor in the PROMs works without modification. That Paul Terrell was shown a prototype coincides with the book Little Kingdom by Michael Moritz.

Achim Baqué will continue to search for information about the prototypes. Well, last years he collected all information but not much is known. Steve Wozniak mentioned a fire in his garage and maybe the prototype(s) were in this garage. This would have been a terrible loss. There is a chance, that the prototypes still exist. Achim Baqué has some clues as to the whereabouts, but nothing certain.

In every story about the first Apple computer, Woz bought the 6502 and built around it the Apple-1. Not the 6501 CPU. At least for the production prototype it was the MOS 6501 CPU.

Update July 2022: Just weeks after publishing in the registry, blogs and newspapers what is known about the 'Apple Computer A' it showed up at auction.

Update August 2022: It was sold for US$ 677,196.
It is most likely due to erroneous reporting in blogs and newspapers that the prototype was not auctioned off for far more than a million US$. It started with a reporter who asked Woz about the prototype. Since this reporter obviously had little knowledge of Apple-1 computers and the prototypes, he asked Woz about the hand-soldered prototype. However, this is a completely different prototype.

The prototype that was auctioned off was the one that was industrially manufactured. Woz made corrections to this prototype by hand-soldering. Laymen and said reporter now mixed the information from the prototype from production with the hand-soldered prototype. And so, doubts spread.

Many blogs picked up the alleged story in the eternal search for clicks or, as usual, copied the text 1:1. And that, unfortunately, also as usual, without checking or researching anything. It was the victory of those who have no idea but like to have a hasty opinion on everything. For those involved in the field, it was terrible to see such a historical object being denigrated. It is the first production prototype of the most valuable company in the world. That should be enough to recognize its historical significance.

About the wooden Byte Shop cases

For years it was unknown who built the Byte shop cases made of Koa wood. Next was the theory that Randy Wigginton's father built it. Randy was Apple employee #6.

Because of my (Achim Baqué) conversation with Randy Wigginton, it became clear that Randy's brother, Ralph Wigginton, built the cases. In March 2022 Achim had contact with Ralph and Randy. There are some suprises facts about the cases. Unfortunately, the false information about the cases were spread further and further because apparently nobody wanted to verify it. Too often a text is simply copied and accepted as true just because someone wrote it at some point. Fortunately, contemporary witnesses do exist and with a little effort you can get closer to the true events.
Here is a summary of the information from various e-mail correspondence, personal and telephone conversations. Among others, the Wigginton brothers, Steve Wozniak and Paul Terrell were interviewed, as well as many other people who unfortunately had no information about the cases.

Here is Ralph's email:
Thanks for asking, and setting the record straight, as Woz gives credit to my father. I tell my students about the box and my perception of Steve and Steve as a lesson in what NOT to do.

Randy was “working” with Woz and Jobs for a while. Because I built furniture for our family, my brother asked me if I could make a display case and some other boxes. I saw the components and the keyboard, then came up with a design. The first case or two were made of Ash because that was my favorite wood to work with. I made many trips to Orchard Supply Hardware to get the clips and other pieces that allowed the Keyboard panel and top panel easy to remove and replace. A lot of time was spent making it look like a fine piece of furniture.

The next few boxes I built were pine and stained to look like Oak, because Ash was just too hard of a wood to work with. I cut a lot of pieces after that but never assembled the boxes.

Why? This is the story/bit of advice I give my students. I met S & S a few times, and said, “These guys are crazy, they’re not going anywhere. I’m going to go to college and make something of myself!”.

To which Randy replied, “Ralph, you really don’t understand, this could be big.” Unfortunately, I judged those two books by their cover (appearance), and walked away from the opportunity of a lifetime.

I don’t recall ever getting paid for any of those boxes, but I do have the story.

Good luck with your Registry.

After some more emails Ralph, Randy and Achim talked via Skype about the cases.
According to Ralph's recollection, he made about 6 wooden cases for Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was delighted, but never paid Ralph for his work. Achim showed Ralph the pictures of the Byte Shop cases. First he thought that it is his work. But after having a closer look he was sure that the cases were a copy of his work, but not the cases he built for Jobs. This could be seen in some details.

Paul Terrell told Achim that he did not sell the cases in his store. He suspects that another of his Byte Shop stores or Steve Jobs was selling them.

Unfortunately, this still leaves the question of who built the Byte Shop cases unanswered. The assumption is that Steve Jobs had the cases built based on Ralph's design. Woz emphasized in a personal conversation with Achim that he knew nothing about cases and that Steve Jobs alone took care of the marketing. Woz worked continuously on the Apple II and had no interest or time to deal with cases. Achim has more information, but it has not yet been confirmed or is based on hearsay.
The research into the housing took months and Achim spoke to countless contemporary witnesses.

A list of all known Apple-1 with original wooden Byte Shop cases is here. The case were made of Koa wood.

Historic artifact: Check signed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

In 1976, Apple built the Apple-1 computer and had to buy electronic components for it. In 2022, the check showed up at an auction, which the two company founders used to buy some of the needed components.

It is a historic Apple Computer Company check, 6 x 3 inches, filled out and signed by Steve Jobs, "steven jobs," and countersigned by Steve Wozniak, "Steve Wozniak," payable to Kierulff Electronics for $3430, July 15, 1976. Headed "Apple Computer Company," the check uses Apple's first official address at "770 Welch Rd., Ste. 154, Palo Alto"-the location of an answering service and mail drop that they used while still operating out of the famous Jobs family garage. In very fine condition.

This extraordinary check comes from the foundational moment of Apple Computer, today the most valuable company in the world. Three months earlier, on April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne signed the company's original partnership agreement, which assigned 45% of the company to each of the Steves, and 10% to Wayne. It also required any expenditure over $100 to be approved by two of the partners-perhaps the reason that both Jobs and Woz signed this check. Because of the legal structure of the partnership, all three could be held personally liable for any of the company's debts. Jobs and Woz were effectively penniless-Jobs sold his beloved Volkswagen Bus and Woz sold his prized HP-65 pocket calculator to raise about $1,300 in operating capital. Wayne, on the other hand, was older and more experienced in the business world. He had assets to protect, and sold back his share in the partnership for the meager sum of $800 just days later. Jobs and Woz were on their own to finance the development, production, and sales of the Apple-1.

Shortly thereafter, Wozniak first demonstrated the Apple-1 prototype at a meeting of Palo Alto's Homebrew Computer Club. Upon seeing interest amidst the membership, he and Jobs pooled their resources to have the printed circuit boards produced. Like most hobbyist computer of the time, they conceived the Apple-1 as a kit to be soldered together by the end user. They originally hoped to sell 50 boards at $40 apiece to recover their initial $1,000 outlay. However, seeking a larger audience, Jobs approached Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. Terrell offered to buy 50 of the computer-at a wholesale price of $500 a piece, to retail at $666.66-but only if they came fully assembled. With this request, Terrell aimed to elevate the computer from the domain of the hobbyist/enthusiast to the realm of the mainstream consumer. Wozniak later placed Terrell's purchase order in perspective: 'That was the biggest single episode in all of the company's history. Nothing in subsequent years was so great and so unexpected.'

However, Jobs and Woz weren't prepared to fill such a massive order-what began as a $1,000 investment in PCBs grew to over $20,000 in expected material costs, and they had already sold off their most valuable possessions. Banks found it easy to refuse loans to 'a couple of hippy kids,' and most electronics vendors were skeptical. Jobs caught a break when he met with Bob Newton, the division manager of Kierulff Electronics in Palo Alto. The episode is discussed in Return to the Little Kingdom: Steve Jobs and the Creation of Apple by Michael Mortiz: 'Newton…met Jobs and examined both him and the prototype. 'He was just an aggressive little kid who didn't present himself very professionally.' Nevertheless, Newton agreed to sell Jobs $20,000 worth of parts and explained that if the bill was paid within thirty days Jobs would not be charged interest. Jobs, unfamiliar with accounting rubric, recalled: 'We didn't know what 'net thirty days' was.'' The components now successfully secured, Jobs and Wozniak spent ten days putting together, soldering, and testing the Apple-1 units before delivering them to The Byte Shop. Thus, the Apple-1 was one of the first completely assembled 'personal' computer that simply worked out of the box with a few accessories that could be purchased from a local electronics store (a power supply, case, keyboard, and monitor were not included). All together, over a span of ten months or so, Jobs and Wozniak produced about 200 Apple-1 computer and sold 175 of them.

Based on the date of this check, it likely represents a payment for parts used in putting together the second batch of Apple-1 Computer. As a document signed by Apple's famed co-founders in the year of the company's origin, and directly connected with the production of the Apple-1 Computer, this is an unparalleled, museum-quality piece.

It is up for auction on March 17, 2022.

Published with permission of RR Auction.

Ronald G. Wayne

He was and will ever be a part of the Apple history. His contribution to Apple was the first logo and the contract. Maybe everyone would have sold all Apple shares like he did. Who could expect that this company would be successful? It was against all odds.

Many people can’t understand why you sold everything but it makes total sense. Today it is easy to say it is billions worth. But it is the same at stock market. Everyone is always smarter in hindsight. You never know if it is wise to sell or not.

Ron Wayne generously allowed me to publish his explanation (remember: for any reprint or reproduction you need the permission of Ron Wayne and the Apple-1 Registry. But you can link to this story without permission):

Dedication January 2018 I had a conversation with Apple co-founder Ronald G. Wayne. At this time he was 83 years old. He wrote me a very moving letter. Many people just reduce the story about Ron Wayne to the point when he sold his 10% Apple share.

"And while I’ve tried to properly explain my reasons, in the many public interviews that I’ve had, none of them allowed me the time to cover the matter as fully as it should be. To begin with, one thing that's distressed me over the years has been the number of comments I’d heard from people who seemed to think that in some way I was squeezed out, cheated. Nothing could be further from the truth. My departure was entirely of my own choice, and both Jobs and Wozniak understood fully, and accepted my decision with good grace.

The first issue did, in fact, relate to money - in this way. Within days after the contract was signed, Jobs successfully secured the sale of a large number of the Apple I Computer to a retail store named "The Byte Shop". Then, exactly as he should have done, he'd gotten a loan of (as I understood) $15,000 with which to buy the materials needed to fill the order. Unfortunately, I later heard that the Byte Shop had a terrible reputation for not paying their bills. This immediately raised a question in my mind.

Since we'd founded the Apple Computer "Company" there was no "corporate" protection if the business failed. And in such a case, who was going to take on the debt?

Neither Jobs nor Wozniak had two coins to rub together -while I had a house, a car, and a bank account, all of which were reachable by an aggrieved lender. Add to this, the fact that a few years before meeting Mr. Jobs, I’d founded a Corporation of my own in Las Vegas, to design and build casino gaming machines – before I’d learned that I had no business “being in business”. I was a far better engineer than I was a businessman. In time, the whole enterprise failed (my fault). However, to my mind I was psychologically unable to use the corporate shell to protect myself. Every creditor was therefore paid every penny owed, and I bought back every share of stock at the price that had been paid to me. It took me a year and a half of painful effort to accomplish that – and with that background in mind, I felt that the personal risk (with the Byte Shop) was then too great.

Then too, there was the question of "what position I’d hold" in the new enterprise.

Mr. Jobs had worked with me at Atari, where I held the posts of Chief Draftsman, and Product Development Engineer. During that time he watched as, by necessity, I’d totally rebuilt the company's documentation system - a system that impressed Steve enormously.

It was obvious that they'd want me to run the Apple Documentation Department. The problem was that I was a product development man, in my own right, with a passion for gaming machines rather than computer. In short, I knew that I’d never get a project of my own- particularly since I’d further recognized that I was standing in the shadow of technological giants. And the last thing I wanted for myself was to spend the next twenty years of my life, shuffling papers in a large back-office - even though I was certain, at the time, that the Wozniak creation would be the core of a very successful enterprise.
…
There were several other issues as well, which effected my decision, all of which seemed meaningful, and combined to affect my final action. I did, however, continue to help my former partners in any that I could, largely because, as I said, I knew it would be a very successful enterprise. In the end, it really was a true delight to have been a part of an actual turning point in technological history - though no one at the time had any idea that it was. Only time would reveal that fact. Now - you know the rest of the story."

You can support Ron Wayne and get a lot of interesting information first-hand from a co-founder of Apple Computer by buying his book Adventures of an Apple Founder (ISBN 0615517420). For example here amazon.com (this is NOT an affiliate link and we will NOT get commission if you click on it). This book contains 80 years of his life and not only the early days at Apple.

Meeting Steve Jobs 1976

By early Byte Shop employee Clay Archer with kind permission.

Apple-1 homemade in 1977 from Steve Wozniak's plans

By Bryan Blackburn with kind permission.

Home Made Apple-1
Back around 1977, I ran across plans by Steve Wozniak, AKA Woz, for the Apple-1 computer. I had the chips, and the time, so why not? This is what I built. I no longer have the set of plans I used, I have no idea what became of them. The project took me about a month to complete, and though I populated the board with chips and made sections of it run perfectly, as a whole, it didn't work well, and I soon abandoned the project. If I recall, I suspected the problems were with the surplus dynamic RAMs, but looking back on it, I also took some shortcuts in my construction for lack of cash to do it right. For example, all of the parts were used or surplus (even the IC sockets). I did make an off board 1K static RAM board that worked better, but I had to rob the chips from my Digital Group computer to populate it, and I valued that computer far more. It was fun while it lasted.

The Circuit
The Apple-1 was an ingenious design that was very unique for the day. Based on the MOS Technology 6502, it was probably the first hobby computer to ever be designed by a real electronics engineer.
The Apple-1 used dynamic RAM, a far more economical memory than static RAM, but very hard to use. Dynamic RAM required "refreshing" every 2 ms. This was a heavy burden for an early microprocessor, requiring special timing and controllers to stop or pause the processor long enough to complete a refresh cycle 500 times a second. Almost no one could make it work the first time. Miss a beat, and you lose most or all your data. (I remember MITS had many problems with their attempt, and although the Digital Group version worked fine, a few modifications were required to the CPU and other boards to make it work.)
Woz made it work. The Apple-1 used the same clock signal to refresh the RAM, out clock the video and run the processor. It worked perfectly, and made history.
My home built version had several other differences from the Woz's Apple-1, I already had a nice video card as part of my Digital Group system, so I didn't build one on board. I also didn't have access to the ROM listings, so I made my own boot ROM to load programs by keyboard. I also made other modifications, but I no longer remember what they were or why I made them...
That's all I can remember about the homebrew!

Steve Wozniak's calculator

Steve Jobs and the VW bus

Curator of the Apple-1 Registry visited Daniel Kottke, Wendell Sander and Jerry Manock

About the 'company Apple-1' - #70 in the Apple-1 Registry

Pamela Lawson, the daughter of Don Hutmacher, wrote in 2015: 'Don Hutmacher worked for Apple in their headquarters in Cupertino. He was a manufacturing engineer and worked on many projects from 1980- 1990. When Steve Jobs was let go from Apple in the mid-80's, Don was allowed by his boss to go into Steve Job's office to take anything that was left over. It had been picked clean by the time that he got there. He noticed a computer and a bag of Starbucks coffee. The computer was the Apple 1 in a custom metallic case. It bears a tag with the initials BF (Bill Fernandez), 5-APR-1977, ACM Mod., and the number 2.'

Wendell Sander added: 'Wow, I always wondered where this Apple 1 went. When I got there in August of 1977 this was the “Company Apple 1” I used it several times in 1977 and 1978 mostly to demo the Apple 1 to others, I was the Apple 1 expert because I had one, I think Bill and I were the only ones that used it. I had assumed it ended up at Stanford [1] with the other Apple stuff.
The ACM mod would have been for Mike Markulla, his initials are ACM. I am almost certain the mod is to put Basic in EPROM. I seem to remember that but Bill can probably verify if that is correct. That is a pretty special Apple 1 because it was the “official” company computer, the case is particularly impressive and the only one like it I know of. It looks like a metal version of the wood cases. Feel free to pass along these comments.'

Bill Fernandez told me on March 8, 2020: 'I don't have any pictures, or memory, of this particular computer. By this time, I would have been working in the garage for about 2 months. "ACM" most likely refers to Mike Markkula. I was probably tasked with modifying the Apple-1 in some way for Mike's use, and this was probably the second one modified in this way.'

[1] This Apple-1 was sold at auction to Paul Allen and is in his museum in Seattle, USA.

Steve Jobs' job application

A Conversation with Apple-1 PCB designer Howard Cantin

With kind permission of Mike Willegal. Original post here.

A conversation between Mike Willegal and Howard Cantin
We live in an unique age where important people engaged in the early days of the personal electronics industry are often accessible and willing to talk about the “old days”. Today I had the good fortune to have a telephone conversation with Howard Catin. Howard is the PCB (printed circuit board) layout designer responsible for early Atari and Apple PCBs. I was interested in talking to Howard because of my reproductions of his work have created a large amount of curiosity about how the original PCBs were created. I was also interested in his relationship to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

At that time, PCBs were laid out on a transparent film on drafting boards. Tape and preprinted images of each ICs footprint were transferred to the film in order to make the image of the board. The film was photographed and the photographic films of each layer were provided to the PCB manufacturer in order to fabricate the actual PCBs.

What follows are taken from notes taken during the call with Howard. The call was not recorded, so words are mine. Footnotes, denoted by brackets are additional information that Howard did not relate, but add context to the story.

Background
Howard worked from his house for clients including Atari and Apple. Howard says he laid out all the boards for the first four years at Atari, until Nolan Bushnel sold the business [1]. He also laid out first boards of other electronics startups in valley that became major players. Though he couldn’t remember the names of others, he says he did the first PCB for Intel. Howard says he was well connected to insiders in the valley electronics community and was the person to go to, when a PCB layout was needed. Howard related how he set many of the standards in PCB layout that were followed by others.

Nolan Bushnell of Atari was often in a hurry and pushed Howard to hurry along a design. Howard says he was a fast designer, partly because of working under the pressure provided by Nolan. He could add a chip to a layout in hour.

Steve Wozniak
Regarding Steve Wozinak, Howard related to me, the often retold story about how Woz created a game design that used 60 parts instead of the 100 in the design that preceded it [2]. Howard related that engineers at Atari couldn’t understand the design. Because they couldn’t understand it, Atari ended up not using it.

How Howard Worked
Most designs had an edge connector, so he would start with that and then add parts that connected to the edge connector. Then he would connect those parts to the parts that connected to those parts and so on. Vias were expensive and to be avoided, and would take up the space need for 3 traces. Howard provided his original artwork and photographic transparencies ready for the PCB manufacturer to his clients. Howard often didn’t negotiate price before taking on a job, but a typical cost was 6 to 8 dollars per chip. Howard worked directly from customers schematics, and is still proud of his ability to produce a result that matched the schematic perfectly.

The Hobby Computer
The first board that Howard did for Jobs and Wozniak was a computer to be sold to the hobbyists at the local computer club [3]. Howard says that this computer was the board that provided the financing to start Apple Computer. Howard refers to this as a hobby computer, not an Apple Computer. [4]. Howard says the two Steve’s always were together and they conducted their discussions with him together. To pay for this computer, the Steve’s tried to trade an old Fiat Station Wagon for services rendered [5]. Howard asked for cash, so the Fiat was sold and proceeds used to pay Howard. As some point, stock was offered, but this was also refused.

The First Apple Computer
Steve Jobs appeared to be a perfectionist to Howard. During the layout of the first Apple Computer [6], Howard had three proposed layouts with different form factors. There apparently was a lot of back and forth figuring out the form factor. Finally, Howard suggested one of the layouts happened to exactly match the size of a piece of legal paper (8.5×14) and Jobs selected that one [7]. The proto area in the corner of this computer was empty and it was Howard’s idea to put pads for a chip and an array of pads that became the proto area.

Though Howard did the main chip placement on this second layout, Howard paid a woman to lay the tape for traces. She was not very good and the traces she laid were not very straight. Jobs wasn’t satisfied and took the design and had it redone digitally. Jobs later told Howard that this re-layout cost Apple three months [8]. Howard asked Steve why he needed to redo the layout and Steve said he was only going to do it once in his life.

Howard did not use that woman for laying traces again. Howard told me that after that project, that he would have refused more work from Apple. In any case, Apple didn’t come back to him.

PIRACY
Howard also mentioned that he thought that the one of the Steve’s took a picture of an Atari board that he happened to be working on as the same time he was working for them. He thought that the Steve’s might have used this picture to duplicate an Atari design in some way. Howard did not have any specific details about what exactly was done with the image. Howard also said he talked on the phone with someone in England that might have been investigating another pirated Atari design. At one point, Nolan Bushnel asked Howard to pirate another design, but Howard refused. Howard now thinks that this was Nolan’s way of checking Howard’s honesty.

[1] Atari was sold to Warner Communciations in 1976
[2] This must be the Breakout game
[3] Homebrew Computer Club
[4] In my opinion, this computer is actually the Apple-1
[5] Is this the source for the often heard van story?
[6] Actually the Apple II
[7] I often wondered if the size of an Apple 2 matching a legal page size was a coincidence
[8] Though the Apple-1 layout is very consistent, I could tell that the Apple II layout is quite a bit more consistant – now I know why

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