He never became rich and famous. Nor was he presented in the history books as a privileged spirit, as a computer pioneer. However, Bill Fernandez was just as important to Apple’s early days as the two Steves, Wozniak and Jobs.
If we search for your name on the Internet we will hardly come across a humble entry in Wikipedia of a single paragraph and the profession of “architect”. Yes, Bill Fernandez was above all a designer of spaces, whether on a green slab or on the desk where he would end up working. A chameleon figure and a “lucid” spirit above all that he approaches, as Wozniak himself would say.
Wozniak needed an architect
The Apple II caused a revolution similar to the first iPhone: its landing crushed conventions around what a personal computer should be. It was cheap, easy to make, and easy to use. But it was also the result of a long journey in the desert, a very long process of iterativeness, if one uses the appropriate jargon. The first prototypes did not work and had no hope of doing so. So Rod Holt, Apple’s first chief engineer, gave Fernandez his particular challenge: “try to start it”.
let’s get out of this in the media. Before making a backtrack to understand what Bill is playing in all of this. Sunnyvale, California was known for being a city teeming with engineering, from computing to aerospace. And Bill’s dad became a Superior Court judge and mayor of that talent pool. Under his long shadow, young Bill, a student renowned for his craftsmanship, has always had access to technological gadgets.
This is how he befriended his neighbor Steve Wozniak, four years his senior but just as restless in the healthy business of gutting machines to make other machines. Unsurprisingly, Bill’s first job was a direct recommendation from Woz. A technical role at Hewlett-Packard, 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, one Steve Jobs, a classmate from Homestead High School. In fact, Bill’s mother was so used to having Jobs at home that she ended up treating him like another son. Fernandez reached out for ex-Homestead Steve Wozniak and Jobs to meet. A celestite curious who formed this unusual society of unredeemed intellectuals. Textbook nerds, wow.
Together they spent entire afternoons developing machines from the gutting of radios and televisions: electronic locks, a television remote control, wave oscillators and, finally, an 8-bit computer that communicated with the user by lights. The cheerful Cream Soda Computer—inspired by their favorite drink, the summery Cragmont Cream Soda—would today be considered a breezy calculator.
But let’s understand the context: at the time Bill was 16 and Woz was a 20 year old engineer.. Twenty, the same number of elements he brought together to design this minimalist computer. The problem was, well, Woz didn’t really design. And that’s what happened with the Apple II that we mentioned at the beginning.
Let’s close the timeline first. Fast forward two more years. Bill Fernandez and Wozniak working at HP and Steve Jobs thriving in his position under Noah Bushnell at Atari. A fish out of water who asked Wozniak himself to help him develop the video game “Breakout”‘. In other words, Apple did not yet exist, but the conversations between this triple agreement were recurrent.
Meanwhile, this Apple I was of interest to 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 – when Patty Jobs, Steve’s little sister, only charged one – Bill was already a de facto member of this budding Apple.
An apple in the microwave
The trigger, the fuse that triggered the change, came from within: HP did not include Wozniak in an internal team he formed to develop a new computer. Steve had to convince Bill Fernandez to say goodbye to HP and in early 1977, investor Mike Markkula provided the capital for the incorporation of Apple Computer, Inc. Bill Fernandez, a boy who rode his bicycle from garage to garage, thus became the first full-time employee of a newly developed Apple. In fact, he was always number 3.
Bill Fernandez was actually still number 3.
Additionally, Fernandez was instrumental in bringing the Apple II to fruition and ultimately helped Wozniak step out of his minor role at HP. Returning to the development of this machine, let’s remember: the technical diagram was in his head, but there was no reference documentation to later replicate his “eurekas”, the nested connection of all the components. And this is Bill Fernandez, the architect. Bill used reverse engineering to be able to draw the schematic for this Apple II prototype. And it worked. This machine made them earn a real fortune.
Fernandez, far from it, has become martial arts expert, was an English teacher, gave classical guitar concerts, worked as a consultant in a good handful of companies and adviser to the Mexican government. It was not until 1981 that he returned to Apple as the fifteenth member of the Macintosh team. He played a key role in the development of QuickTime, for example. In short, his life is an archipelago of discoveries. But, despite being his own name – as revealed by his current role at Bill Fernandez Design – in the industry, it seems he never flew high enough for the wax on his wings to sign. his signature alongside the greatest.
Today, he resides in the hot town of Albuquerque, the New Mexico city known halfway around the world for being the visual setting for “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.” From there, he continues to do what he does best: UX and UI, designing interfaces, being the architect of indeterminate spaces.
Pictures | 1. Originals from TechRepublic (by Jason Hiner) courtesy of Bill Fernandez himself. 2. Image from the documentary ‘Teenage Hackers’. 3. Apple I model, original by Dai Sugano for The Mercury News.
