If there was a birthday of the personal computer, a day to celebrate because that day it all really started, that day would be March 5, 1975. First meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club.
In this Almanac we have it already mentioned at least a couple of times (here and here). But nothing is as good as the first-person story of one of the greatest architects of that season, Steve Wozniak, who once said on the subject: “Without the computer clubs, there probably would have been no Apple computers.” The Wizard of Woz, he told this story in detail in his autobiography, which we invite you to reade da cui sono presi alcuni estratti. Ma prima vorrei rileggere il biglietto di invito, un testo prestampato. Questo: “Are you building your own computer? Terminal? TV Typewriter? I/O device? or some other digital magic box? Or are you buying time on a time-sharing service? If so, you might like to come to a gathering of people with like-minded interests. Exchange information, swap ideas, talk shop, help work on project, whatever… We are getting together Wednesday nite, March 5th, 7 pm, at the home of Gordon French 614 18th Ave., Menlo Park (near Marsh Road). If you can’t make this time, drop us a card for the next meeting. See ya there”.
Then, in the note kept by Wozniak, there were two additions by hand: “Steve”, top left, as a header; and finally “Hope you can make it, there will be other Altair builders there” (the Altair 8880 was the computer everyone was talking about as we shall see). Signed: Allen Baum.
But here it is Wozniak’s words: “I can tell you what was the day when it all started, when in my opinion the computer revolution started, that revolution that changed our life. The spark went off at the first meeting of a strange group of tech-savvy people called the Homebrew Computer Club in March 1975. They were all people like me. Most of them were young and had the typical attitude of the engineer; none looked good. Yes, in fact we are talking about engineers, remember that. We met in the garage of an unemployed engineer named Gordon French… “.
“About thirty people attended that first meeting in the garage in Menlo Park. It was cold and it was raining, but they left the garage door open and set the chairs inside. So I sat there and listened to the long discussion … They talked about a computer based on a microprocessor that was sold in kit form. Everyone seemed enthusiastic about it. Someone had Popular Electronics magazine, the cover of which had a picture of that computer in plain sight. It was called Altair, made by a New Mexico company named Mits. You could buy all the necessary parts and, once assembled, you had your own computer. I realized that all those people were actually Altair fanatics and not fans of video terminals as I thought… “.
“I felt really uncomfortable and to myself I was cursing Allen Baum for taking me there. I didn’t feel part of that world. Then we went around the introductions and when it was my turn I said I’m Steve Wozniak, I work at Hewlett-Packard, I work with calculators and I have designed a VDU. Maybe I added a few more details, but I was so excited to speak in public that I don’t remember what he might have said… “.
“After that, we wrote our name on a piece of paper, what we were mainly interested in and what our particular abilities were, in order to make this information known to the whole group (this document is now in the public domain and should be available online). On that paper I also wrote that I have very little free time. It’s not funny?…”.
“Anyway, even though I didn’t feel integrated into that group, a lucky event happened: a guy started distributing the technical specifications of a 8008 microprocessor from a Canadian company, a clone of the Intel 8008. I took that documentation home, thinking that at least I would learn something… So I realized what the Altai actually was, the computer for which there was all that great enthusiasm at the meeting. It was quite similar to the Cream Soda Computer I had designed five years earlier. Almost identical, except for the fact that the Altair was based on a microprocessor while my CPU used several chips… “.
“That night, the night after the first Homebrew Club meeting, the whole vision of the personal computer had already blossomed in my mind. Everything was suddenly clear. That’s how it went… That same night I started writing down the project for what would become the Apple I”.