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Friday, April 1, 2016

Apple at 40: The forgotten founder who gave it all away

Apple has just turned 40 years old - a timely reason to track down a man who helped start the firm and then walked away.
Drive out of Las Vegas for an hour into the Nevada desert. When you reach what feels like the end of civilization, carry on. That's where you'll find Pahrump.
And it's in Pahrump where you'll find the co-founder of the most valuable, perhaps most powerful company, on Earth.
Ronald G Wayne is 81. When he was 41, he worked at Atari. And it was there he met a young, impressionable Steve Jobs who would regularly turn to Wayne for all manner of advice.
Jobs asked if he should start a business making slot machines. Wayne said no.
Jobs asked if he should go to India to find himself. Wayne said, if you must. Just be careful.
One day, Jobs finally asked the question that changed history: "Could you help me talk some sense into Steve Wozniak?"
"Bring him over to the house," Wayne said. "We'll sit down, and we'll chat."

Parental Woz

The charismatic, lovable Wozniak - you can call him Woz - had been working with Jobs on breaking down business computers and making them into something more personal.
The pair frequented the now infamous Homebrew Computer Club, a gathering of enthusiasts who would pick apart circuitry and build it up again in new ways with the same gusto as an imaginative six-year-old faced with a box of Lego.
Woz was the best. A circuit board he built would form the basis of the Apple 1, the company's first computer - and one that sold at an auction in 2015 for $365,000 (£254,300). 
Jobs wanted Woz's brain to be an Apple exclusive. Woz was having none of it.
And so it was to Wayne's flat, in Mountain View, California, to thrash out the details. 
"Jobs thought that I was somewhat more diplomatic than he was," Wayne recalls.
"He very anxious to proceed with Steve Wozniak to get this into production. But Wozniak, being the whimsical character that he was, everything he did was for the pure fun of it. Woz had no concept of business, or the rules of the game."
course of around 45 minutes, Wayne turned things around.
"He bought into it. He understood," he says.
"It was at that moment Steve Jobs said: 'We're going to start a company. It will be the Apple Computer Company.'" 
Wayne typed up the documents there and then, on an IBM typewriter, much to the amusement of Woz, who couldn't quite believe Wayne's talent for reeling off four pages of legalese from memory.
Slicing up the Apple pie was straight-forward: Jobs and Wozniak got 45% each, and Wayne had 10%, and a remit to be the voice of reason in any disputes.

Two nickels

Twelve days later Wayne removed himself from the contract.
"For very excellent reasons that are still sound to me today," he said, 40 years and a market cap of $600bn later.
Jobs, ever the skilful salesman, had just secured Apple's first big deal. A small computer chain, the Byte Shop, wanted 50 machines. To get the cash, Apple had to borrow $15,000.
But Wayne had heard - from what source he doesn't remember - that the Byte Shop didn't have a particularly good reputation for paying its bills.
"If the company goes poof, we are individually liable for the debts," Wayne explained.
"Jobs and Wozniak didn't have two nickels to rub together. I had a house, and a bank account, and a car… I was reachable!"
Wayne told the Steves that he wanted to help out where he could, but that he no longer could officially be part of the company.
One lasting contribution was to draw the company's first logo - an ink-drawing of Newton sitting under a tree, an apple waiting over his head. Wayne signed the image, but Jobs spotted it. 
"Take that out!" Wayne recalls him saying. He obliged. 
Months after severing formal ties with Apple, Wayne received a letter. 
"The letter says all you gotta do is sign away every possible interest you could have in the Apple Computer Company, and the cheque is yours," he says.
In return he was given $1,500. 
"As far as I was concerned, it was 'found money'. So I went ahead and I signed." 

Modest

Pahrump is 500 miles (800km) and one whole universe away from Cupertino, where Apple is headquartered today. 
Wayne's home is as modest as it is loved. Ornaments from the life of a curious engineer and collector are dotted throughout.
By the door, an old silver slot machine. Against one wall, a still-functioning radio from the thirties, housed in beautiful mahogany.
He told me about the time he made a scale replica, both interior and exterior, of the Nautilus - the colossal submarine featured in the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He didn't have any blueprint to work with, instead studying freeze-frames from the film. 
When he was finished, he gave it away to a museum.
Today, a 10% share of Apple would be worth almost $60bn. If Wayne regrets his decision, he's extremely good at covering it up.
"I would've wound up heading a very large documentation department at the back of the building, shuffling papers for the next 20 years of my life. That was not the future that I saw for myself.
"If money was the only thing that I wanted, there are many ways I could've done that. But it was much more important to do what appealed to me.
"My advice to young people is always this - find something you enjoy doing so much that you'd be willing to do it for nothing… and you'll never work a day in your life." 

Long-lost brother

Wayne keeps all his fan mail in a small box in the corner of his study. It's full of autograph requests, calls for advice and general messages of admiration.
One letter, from a fan called Jason, jokes about the notion of the infamously self-assured and combative Steve Jobs ever being able to take the constructive criticism Wayne was able to dish out.
"He was a fascinating man," Wayne reflects. 
"Who made Apple what it is? Obviously, Jobs.
"Was Jobs a nice guy? In many ways, no. But that doesn't matter." 
Wayne considered himself the "adult supervision" to the Jobs dream, even offering a supportive boost early on.
"Jobs says: 'You know, I'm having second thoughts about this. There are other things I want to do'.

Apple at 40: The forgotten founder who gave it all away

Apple has just turned 40 years old - a timely reason to track down a man who helped start the firm and then walked away.
Drive out of Las Vegas for an hour into the Nevada desert. When you reach what feels like the end of civilization, carry on. That's where you'll find Pahrump.
And it's in Pahrump where you'll find the co-founder of the most valuable, perhaps most powerful company, on Earth.
Ronald G Wayne is 81. When he was 41, he worked at Atari. And it was there he met a young, impressionable Steve Jobs who would regularly turn to Wayne for all manner of advice.
Jobs asked if he should start a business making slot machines. Wayne said no.
Jobs asked if he should go to India to find himself. Wayne said, if you must. Just be careful.
One day, Jobs finally asked the question that changed history: "Could you help me talk some sense into Steve Wozniak?"
"Bring him over to the house," Wayne said. "We'll sit down, and we'll chat."

Parental Woz

The charismatic, lovable Wozniak - you can call him Woz - had been working with Jobs on breaking down business computers and making them into something more personal.
The pair frequented the now infamous Homebrew Computer Club, a gathering of enthusiasts who would pick apart circuitry and build it up again in new ways with the same gusto as an imaginative six-year-old faced with a box of Lego.
Woz was the best. A circuit board he built would form the basis of the Apple 1, the company's first computer - and one that sold at an auction in 2015 for $365,000 (£254,300). 
Jobs wanted Woz's brain to be an Apple exclusive. Woz was having none of it.
And so it was to Wayne's flat, in Mountain View, California, to thrash out the details. 
"Jobs thought that I was somewhat more diplomatic than he was," Wayne recalls.
"He very anxious to proceed with Steve Wozniak to get this into production. But Wozniak, being the whimsical character that he was, everything he did was for the pure fun of it. Woz had no concept of business, or the rules of the game."
course of around 45 minutes, Wayne turned things around.
"He bought into it. He understood," he says.
"It was at that moment Steve Jobs said: 'We're going to start a company. It will be the Apple Computer Company.'" 
Wayne typed up the documents there and then, on an IBM typewriter, much to the amusement of Woz, who couldn't quite believe Wayne's talent for reeling off four pages of legalese from memory.
Slicing up the Apple pie was straight-forward: Jobs and Wozniak got 45% each, and Wayne had 10%, and a remit to be the voice of reason in any disputes.

Two nickels

Twelve days later Wayne removed himself from the contract.
"For very excellent reasons that are still sound to me today," he said, 40 years and a market cap of $600bn later.
Jobs, ever the skilful salesman, had just secured Apple's first big deal. A small computer chain, the Byte Shop, wanted 50 machines. To get the cash, Apple had to borrow $15,000.
But Wayne had heard - from what source he doesn't remember - that the Byte Shop didn't have a particularly good reputation for paying its bills.
"If the company goes poof, we are individually liable for the debts," Wayne explained.
"Jobs and Wozniak didn't have two nickels to rub together. I had a house, and a bank account, and a car… I was reachable!"
Wayne told the Steves that he wanted to help out where he could, but that he no longer could officially be part of the company.
One lasting contribution was to draw the company's first logo - an ink-drawing of Newton sitting under a tree, an apple waiting over his head. Wayne signed the image, but Jobs spotted it. 
"Take that out!" Wayne recalls him saying. He obliged. 
Months after severing formal ties with Apple, Wayne received a letter. 
"The letter says all you gotta do is sign away every possible interest you could have in the Apple Computer Company, and the cheque is yours," he says.
In return he was given $1,500. 
"As far as I was concerned, it was 'found money'. So I went ahead and I signed." 

Modest

Pahrump is 500 miles (800km) and one whole universe away from Cupertino, where Apple is headquartered today. 
Wayne's home is as modest as it is loved. Ornaments from the life of a curious engineer and collector are dotted throughout.
By the door, an old silver slot machine. Against one wall, a still-functioning radio from the thirties, housed in beautiful mahogany.
He told me about the time he made a scale replica, both interior and exterior, of the Nautilus - the colossal submarine featured in the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He didn't have any blueprint to work with, instead studying freeze-frames from the film. 
When he was finished, he gave it away to a museum.
Today, a 10% share of Apple would be worth almost $60bn. If Wayne regrets his decision, he's extremely good at covering it up.
"I would've wound up heading a very large documentation department at the back of the building, shuffling papers for the next 20 years of my life. That was not the future that I saw for myself.
"If money was the only thing that I wanted, there are many ways I could've done that. But it was much more important to do what appealed to me.
"My advice to young people is always this - find something you enjoy doing so much that you'd be willing to do it for nothing… and you'll never work a day in your life." 

Long-lost brother

Wayne keeps all his fan mail in a small box in the corner of his study. It's full of autograph requests, calls for advice and general messages of admiration.
One letter, from a fan called Jason, jokes about the notion of the infamously self-assured and combative Steve Jobs ever being able to take the constructive criticism Wayne was able to dish out.
"He was a fascinating man," Wayne reflects. 
"Who made Apple what it is? Obviously, Jobs.
"Was Jobs a nice guy? In many ways, no. But that doesn't matter." 
Wayne considered himself the "adult supervision" to the Jobs dream, even offering a supportive boost early on.
"Jobs says: 'You know, I'm having second thoughts about this. There are other things I want to do'.

UK Terror Threat: More Armed Police For Regions

Hundreds more armed police are to be recruited by forces outside London in the next two years as the Government steps up moves to prevent Paris-style terror attacks in the UK.
Speaking at a security conference in Washington, David Cameron pledged a further 400 armed police in addition to 600 more in London announced in January.
To boost counter-terrorism in the regions, there will also be more round-the-clock specialist teams - mainly in big cities such as Manchester and Birmingham - and 40 more armed-response vehicles.
The extra armed officers, which will take the number in England and Wales to nearly 7,000, follows a review ordered by the Prime Minister after the Paris attacks.
The Government says every region will benefit.
The additional armed-response vehicles and teams will be operational within a year, taking the total to 150 and doubling the number in London. They will carry specialist equipment and enable firearms officers to be transported swiftly.
The Prime Minister said: "Our police and intelligence agencies work round the clock to keep us safe and it is absolutely vital that we support them with the right resources and kit.
"After the terrorist attacks in France last year, we decided to look at whether there was more we could do to protect people from the type of terrorist threat we now face.
"That’s why we are increasing the number of specially trained armed officers up and down the country to make sure the police have greater capability to respond swiftly and effectively should they need to do so."
Deputy Chief Constable Simon Chesterman, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for Armed Policing, added: "Over recent years we have significantly enhanced the training, tactics and weaponry of armed officers to ensure they are capable of dealing with all types of terrorist attacks. 
"This additional uplift will ensure we are in an even stronger position to respond quickly and effectively to protect the public."
The plan for more armed police comes on top of military contingency planning announced by the Prime Minister following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January last year.
This will allow 10,000 troops to be involved in a security response in the event of a terror attack, as well as enabling the military to fill in for armed police, releasing them to respond to incidents.
The new measures will be funded from £143m announced at the Strategic Security and Defence Review to increase Armed Response capability and capacity.

WWII Rockets Find No April Fool, Say Police

Six Second World War anti-tank rockets have been found behind a bus stop in Essex.

The deadly cache of live weapons were made safe by a bomb disposal unit after police officers were called to the stop on the B181 Epping Road in Coopersale.

Essex Police have appealed for help in tracing the person who left the rockets..

An appeal on the force's Facebook page was questioned by some who thought it might be an April Fool.

One person wrote: "Hmmmm - true or an April Fool??!"

Another said: "yea right!"

In response, the force insisted it was genuine and said in a post: "This is a bona fide appeal. Anyone with information is asked to call 101."

An Essex Police spokesman said: "The Army Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit attended and disposed of the rockets nearby and confirmed they were six live anti-tank rockets from WW2.


North Korea: Peninsula In A State Of 'Semi-War'

North Korea has said it will continue its nuclear and ballistic missile programme in defiance of the United States and its allies.

The country's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, So Se Pyong, said a state of "semi-war" now existed in the divided peninsula.

He said military exercises involving South Korea and the US were aimed at "decapitation of the supreme leadership of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)".

"If the United States continues, then we have to make the counter-measures also. So we have to develop, and we have to make more deterrence, nuclear deterrence," he said.

The diplomat added: "The de-nuclearisation of the peninsula has gone."

His comments came after North Korea fired a missile into the sea just hours after South Korea, Japan and the US warned Pyongyang to end its provocations.

The surface-to-air missile was fired from a region close to the North's eastern coast, according to a South Korean military official.

Music Stars' Tribute To David Bowie In NYC

Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and former REM frontman Michael Stipe were among the stars who paid tribute to Davie Bowie at a concert in New York.
Celebrities of the music world performed classic Bowie hits at Carnegie Hall for the first of two sell-out benefit concerts.
The event was announced just hours before the British singer's death from cancer was confirmed in January.
It was originally intended as a retrospective of Bowie's life and sold out in two hours, prompting organisers to arrange a second concert at Radio City Music Hall.
Pixies, The Flaming Lips and John Lennon's son Sean Ono Lennon were among the line-up at the Carnegie Hall concert, which raised money for music education schemes for underprivileged children.
Blondie singer Harry sang Starman, while Stipe and Karen Elson gave a rendition of Ashes To Ashes and The Flaming Lips performed Life On Mars with Star Wars character Chewbacca on stage.
The Music Of David Bowie concert at Radio City Music Hall on Friday will be live-streamed for fans to watch online.
In exchange for a charity donation, recommended to be £15, viewers will be sent a link to watch the event live.
British band Mumford & Sons and Miley Cyrus are among the acts billed to perform at the show, while Bowie's producer Tony Visconti is also expected to take the stage.
Bowie, the visionary British rock star who coupled hits such as Space Oddity with trend-setting pop personas like Ziggy Stardust, died aged 69 on 10 January.
He is survived by his model wife Iman of 24 years, adult son Duncan Jones and teenage daughter Alexandria.

Denise Robertson: This Morning Agony Aunt Dies

Denise Robertson, the agony aunt for ITV's This Morning programme, has died after a short battle with cancer.
The show confirmed the 83-year-old had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
The programme posted the news on its official Twitter account, writing: "Such sad news - our friend and colleague Denise Robertson has lost her short but determined battle against cancer."
In mid-February Robertson issued a statement announcing her absence from the show.
Denise Robertson death
This Morning presenter Ruth Langsford read a message from her which said: "I'm sorry I've not been around for a couple of weeks but a persistent health issue has turned into something quite a lot bigger. I've been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
"It has come as a surprise to me and my family but we know that many others have suffered and dealt with this condition and I don't plan to give up without a fight.
"My doctor is referring me for chemotherapy and hopefully that will start soon.
"I'd like to thank all the lovely viewers of This Morning who have been concerned about my health recently and I hope I'll be back on the sofa soon."
Robertson, from Sunderland, had been on the programme since it began in 1988.
Presenter Phillip Schofield paid tribute to her on Twitter, describing his colleague as "kind, thoughtful, caring & wonderful".
Robertson also had her own advice website and wrote a column for Candis magazine.
Her popularity on This Morning led to her being offered her own TV show in 2000, called Dear Denise.