June 14, 1971: The First Woz-Built Computer Catches Fire

Steve Wozniak is renowned for his skill at taking spare parts and turning them into functional computers. But before he had access to discarded parts, Woz designed computer after computer on the only thing he could afford--paper.

It may be the stuff of Abe Lincoln doing his homework on a shovel, but Woz was limited by finances. When he finally got around to building his first computer, with the aid of Bill Fernandez, it was news, literally. Sure, every gamer around builds their own rigs today, but in Woz's youth it was something special. So special a reporter was on hand to see the computer perform.

What the reporter saw was a box called the cream soda computer for the beverage Woz and Bill drank while building it, with lights that would turn on and off. Not very exciting. Things picked up when the computer caught fire. From inauspicious beginnings come great things and the inauspicious beginning of Woz's computer design occurred this month, on the news, in 1971.