Steve Wozniak had wanted to build his own computer for a long time. He finally started when he found the MOS Technology 6502 chip, which cost only 25 dollars instead of the 175 dollars Motorola asked for the 6800. He wrote the BASIC interpreter first, and then designed the computer around it, with a keyboard instead of switches and a video output you could connect to a TV.
A small 256-byte "monitor" program started when you turned the machine on. With it you could enter hex bytes, look at the memory, and run programs. The whole computer fit on one board, about 16 by 12 inches, with only 30 to 40 chips and up to 8 KB of RAM. It had no speaker, no graphics, and no color.
Steve Jobs suggested that they make printed circuit boards, and on April 1, 1976 they founded the Apple Computer Company. Paul Terrell, the owner of the Byte Shop, ordered 50 units, but he wanted them fully assembled.
So the two Steves built the machines in Jobs' garage, though they still came without a power supply, keyboard, or monitor. The Apple-1 came out in July 1976 for 666.66 dollars. They made 200 units and sold 175 of them within ten months.
At Terrell's request, Wozniak also designed a 75-dollar cassette interface card. It ran at 1200 baud, which was four times faster than most machines of that time.
Production ended in March 1977, when the Apple II arrived.
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