He never became rich and famous. Nor was he presented in history books as a privileged spirit, as a computer pioneer. However, Bill Fernandez was as important to the first Apple as were both Steve, Wozniak and Jobs. This is why we dedicate this detailed report to him today.
If we search your name on the Internet we will barely come across a humble entry on Wikipedia with a single paragraph and the profession of “architect”. Yes, Bill Fernandez was first and foremost a designer of spaces, whether on a green pad or the desk where he would eventually work. A chameleon figure and a lucid mind in everything he tackled, as Wozniak himself would say.
Steve Wozniak needed an architect
The Apple II represented a revolution similar to the first iPhone: its landing broke the conventions around what a personal computer should be. It was cheap, easy to make and use. But it was also the result of a long journey through the desert, a very long process of iteration, if you use the appropriate jargon. The first prototypes did not work and had no hope of doing so. So Rod Holt, Apple's first head of engineering, gave Fernandez his particular challenge: “try to get it started.”
Let's get out of this in the media. First, let's make a flashback to understand what Bill is involved in all this. Sunnyvale, California was known for being a town full of engineering, from computing to aerospace. AND Bill's father became a Superior Court judge and mayor of this talent pool. Under his shadow, young Bill, a student known for his craft skills, always had access to technological gadgets.
This is how he became friends with his neighbor Steve Wozniakfour years his senior but just as active in the healthy profession of eviscerator to manufacture other machines. Not surprisingly, Bill's first job was a direct recommendation from Woz. A technical role at Hewlett-Packard, a company where Wozniak worked as an engineer before founding Apple.
The second Steve
One spring afternoon, Bill showed up at Woz's garage with a friend, Steve Jobs, a classmate from Homestead High School. Actually, Bill's mother was so used to having Jobs at home that she ended up treating him like another son.. Fernandez reached out to have ex-Homesteader Steve Wozniak and Jobs meet. A Celestin curious who formed this unusual society of unredeemed intellectuals. Textbook nerves, wow.
Together, they spent entire afternoons developing machines made from gutting radios and televisions: electronic locks, a television remote control, wave oscillators and, finally, an 8-bit computer that communicated with the user via lights. The wonderful Cream Soda Computer, inspired by their two favorite summer drinks, Cragmont Cream Soda, would today be considered a pretentious calculator.
But let's understand the context: at that time Bill was 16 years old and Woz was a young engineer of 20 years old.. Twenty, the same number of elements that he gathered to design this minimalist computer. The problem was that Woz hadn't really designed it. And that's what happened with the Apple II that we mentioned at the beginning.
Let's close the timeline first. Let’s fast forward two more years. Bill Fernandez and Wozniak work at HP and Steve Jobs moves up to his position under Noah Bushnell at Atari. A fish out of water asked Wozniak himself to help him in the development of the video game “Breakout”. In other words, Apple did not yet exist, but conversations between this triple agreement were recurring.
Meanwhile, this Apple I interested a clever Paul Terrell, owner of a computer store in Silicon Valley, who ordered 50 assembled kits to have on his shelves. At three dollars an hour – while Patty Jobs, Steve's little sister, only earned one – Bill was already a de facto member of this budding Apple.
An apple in the microwave
The trigger, the fuse that lit the change, came from within: HP did not include Wozniak on an internal team it formed for the development of a new computer. Steve had to convince Bill Fernandez to say goodbye to HP and in early 1977, investor Mike Markkula provided the capital to create Apple Computer, Inc. Bill Fernandez, a child who rode his bike from garage to garage, became Apple Computer's first full-time employee. a new business. founded Apple. In fact, he was still number 3.
Bill Fernandez has actually always been number 3.
Additionally, Fernandez was instrumental in bringing the Apple II to fruition, and Wozniak was eventually able to step away from his minor role at HP. Returning to the development of this machine, let us remember: the technical diagram was in his head, but there was no reference documentation to later reproduce his “eurekas”, the intertwined connection of all the components. And this is Bill Fernandez, the architect. Bill used reverse engineering to draw the schematic of this Apple II prototype. And it worked. This machine made them a real fortune.
Fernandez, far from it, has become martial arts expert, was an English teacher, gave classical guitar concerts, He has worked as a consultant to a handful of companies and as an advisor to the Mexican government. It was not until 1981 that he returned to Apple as the fifteenth member of the Macintosh team. For example, he played a key role in the development of QuickTime. In short, his life is an archipelago of discoveries. But while he's a household name in the industry – as his current role at Bill Fernandez Design reveals – it seems he's never flown high enough for the wax on his wings to signify his signature to the alongside the older ones.
In 2013, he founded OmniBotics, a research and development company in robotics for home control, forgetting mechanical switches and buttons. Wozniak gave him the idea: “Because of his way of understanding people, he can see technology from the user's point of view and design something that is usable“.
In 2025, he now resides in hot Albuquerque, the New Mexico city known halfway around the world as the visual setting for “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.” From there, he continues doing what he does best: UX and UI, designing interfaces, being the architect of indeterminate spaces.
Pictures | 1. TechRepublic originals (by Jason Hiner) provided by Bill Fernandez himself. 2. Image taken from the documentary “Teenage Hackers”. 3. Apple I model, original by Dai Sugano for The Mercury News.
An older version of this article was originally published on 01/15/2023.
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