The name Wayne occupies a unique place in American history.  A man named Wayne helped created icons that inspired millions and left an indelible mark on the world. Yet, his role is largely forgotten as he is overshadowed by his partners, two guys names Steve. For today, 1 April, in 1976 Ronald Wyane and the two Steves, Wozniak and Jobs, started Apple Computer.

There first computer, the Apple I, debuted at the Homebrew Computer Club. Designed and hand built by the Woz, Steve Woznizak,  sold for $666.66; and is now a collector’s item, selling for over $400K at auction. It was a bare motherboard to which computer enthusiasts added a keyboard, monitor and cassette storage. The Apple I, despite its barebones approach, was a major leap over machines such as the Altair, which came as a kit and was programed via switches on the front panel.

The Apple ][, introduced in 1977, was the machine that made Apple one of the survivors from the early years of personal computers. Competing against machines from Ohio Scientific, Tandy’s TRS – 80, Commodore’s PET, and a multitude of CP/M machines, its graphics and ultimately the killer app, Visicalc, gave it the boost it need to surpass its competitors. The Apple ][ went on to be used in business, home and schools; establishing it as one of the standards along with MS-DOS machines.  The ][gs was the ultimate expression of the ][ series, as well as its swan song.

In 1984, Apple created Macintosh, launching it with an ad that has become a classic. Shown only once during the Superbowl, the ad portrayed the Mac as a rebel in a dull, gray world of DOS users.  After a lot of initial success, Mac sales dropped, Jobs left Apple to start Pixar and NeXT, and Apple flounder under a variety of leaders.

Steve Jobs returned after Apple acquired NeXT, and as interim CEO restructured Apple’s product line in a bid to restore Apple to profitability. He not only succeeded in that, but went on to introduce products that changed the way people interact with computers, from the iPod to the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. He also brought digital music to the forefront with iTunes, and redefined retailing with Apple Stores. While none of them may have been original ideas, given MP3 plays existed before the iPod, tables before iPads, and Gateway had their own stores; Apple’s combination of design and marketing has made them huge successes in each category. Even the mouse and graphical interface were not Apple’s idea, but developed at Xerox ARC, but Apple refined the idea and took it to the masses.

So what about Wayne? He sold back his stock a few weeks after founding Apple.