Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different: A Biography

by Karen Blumenthal

wasn’t thinking big enough, Mike Markkula definitely was. A former marketing manager for Intel, Markkula had never run a company himself. But the one-time high school gymnast was a true engineer who appreciated the potential of desktop computers as much as anybody. He realized right away that the Apple II could be much more than a toy for hobbyists or game players. It could be a truly useful tool, especially for regular folks who wanted to keep track of recipes or a bank account. “This is the start of an industry,” he told Jobs and Wozniak, predicting the company would make the Fortune 500, the prestigious list of America’s biggest companies, in a matter of years. “It happens once a decade.” To make it happen, he needed the right team—and that included Steve Wozniak, as well as Steve Jobs. Wozniak, however, was plenty happy working for Hewlett-Packard, and his young wife liked the security of the regular paycheck. Plus, he had decided long before that he never wanted to tell people what to do. He would rather design computers and write software. “I’m not a management person,” he said. He mulled over the choice for a few days and told Markkula that he would stay where he was. Steve Jobs didn’t like to take no for an answer, and he didn’t plan to start now. He went on a one-man crusade to change his friend’s mind. Jobs lobbied Wozniak’s friends to call him. He called Woz’s brother, and even went to Wozniak’s parents to tearfully beg them for help. Within a couple of days, Wo...