- Event Start Date
- Dec 8, 1975
For vintage Apple fans, "The Byte Shop" computer is well known for being the retailer to order and sell the very first 50 Apple I computers in 1976.
The Apple I was planned to be sold as a kit by Apple Co-Founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs since that was the norm at the time for similar types of machines. Paul Terrell, the owner of The Byte Shop, requested full-assembled units that would be ready to sell immediately.
Here's the Wikipedia description:
The team assembling & testing the computers likely took place at Steve Jobs house which started the lore of Apple being "born" in Steve Jobs garage.
The Cult of Mac has good writeup of the events.
The Apple I was planned to be sold as a kit by Apple Co-Founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs since that was the norm at the time for similar types of machines. Paul Terrell, the owner of The Byte Shop, requested full-assembled units that would be ready to sell immediately.
Here's the Wikipedia description:
The Byte Shop was the first retailer of the original Apple I computer. At the time Steve Jobs was planning to sell bare circuit boards for $40, but Terrell told him that he would be interested in the machine only if it came fully assembled, and promised to order 50 of the machines and pay $500 each on delivery.
Jobs contacted Cramer Electronics to order the components he needed to assemble the Apple I Computer. When asked how he was going to pay for the parts, he replied, "I have this purchase order from the Byte Shop chain of computer stores for 50 of my computers and the payment terms are COD. If you give me the parts on a net 30 day terms I can build and deliver the computers in that time frame, collect my money from Terrell at the Byte Shop and pay you." The credit manager called Paul Terrell and verified the validity of the purchase order.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and their small team spent day and night building and testing the computers and delivered to Terrell on time to pay his suppliers and have a profit left over for their celebration and next order.
Jobs contacted Cramer Electronics to order the components he needed to assemble the Apple I Computer. When asked how he was going to pay for the parts, he replied, "I have this purchase order from the Byte Shop chain of computer stores for 50 of my computers and the payment terms are COD. If you give me the parts on a net 30 day terms I can build and deliver the computers in that time frame, collect my money from Terrell at the Byte Shop and pay you." The credit manager called Paul Terrell and verified the validity of the purchase order.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and their small team spent day and night building and testing the computers and delivered to Terrell on time to pay his suppliers and have a profit left over for their celebration and next order.
The team assembling & testing the computers likely took place at Steve Jobs house which started the lore of Apple being "born" in Steve Jobs garage.
The Cult of Mac has good writeup of the events.
Today in Apple history: The Byte Shop, Apple's first retailer, opens
On December 8, 1975, Paul Terrell opened the Byte Shop, one of the world's first computer stores -- and the first to sell an Apple computer.
www.cultofmac.com