Steve Wozniak

Driving back from the airport one day, Jobs suggested Apple Computer.

He'd just returned from an apple orchard in Oregon, though it was actually some kind of commune.

They tried to think of something more technical sounding, but couldn't.

Apple it is.

But before they could officially start, Wozniak faced a dilemma that revealed everything about his character.

Everything he designed while working at HP technically belonged to HP.

I believed it was my duty to tell HP about what I had designed while working for them, he said.

That was the right thing, the ethical thing.

Plus, I really loved that company.

What followed was a comedy of corporate blindness that would cost Hewlett-Packard trillions.

Wozniak went to his boss and explained that he designed an inexpensive desktop computer.

A meeting was arranged with executives.

In the conference room, Wozniak showed them the Apple One.

The response was corporate and immediate.

What if it doesn't work on every TV?

How could HP ensure the quality if they couldn't control

control which TV customers owned.

Besides, the division didn't have the budget for new projects.

They turned it down.

New ideas are so fragile, they need to be nurtured and not torn apart like this.