Computers before 1975 , like this one for IBM , were huge , complicated devices .
Jobs wanted to change that . He believed that if computers were small enough to sit on a desk , easy to use , attractive , and affordable , ordinary people would feel comfortable having the machines in their homes and would use them to do things like writing letters , keeping address lists , balancing checkbooks , playing games , and drawing pictures .
Many industry experts thought Jobs ’ s dream of personal computers was impractical and unmarketable . Jobs proved them wrong . “ From nothingness , the personal computer had become the fastest growing industry in American history , a billion dollar triumph spurred by the dream of one college dropout [ Jobs ] and the engineering virtuosity of another [ Wozniak ],” explains author David A . Kaplan . “ During one decade , Apple alone reached $ 1 billion in sales . . . Apple was not only a commercial success — the beginnings of the Information Era — but the societal one that Jobs dreamed of just as much .” 3
On His Own Terms 11