The Apple Garage

There are a few garages that are thought to be part of profound changes in the way we live our lives, and one of them is in the northern California town of Los Altos. It’s here that Steve Jobs, the heart and soul of Apple Computers, grew up.

The plain old suburban garage at 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos, California, is said to be the birthplace of Apple computers. But that might be a bit of plain old urban myth.

The simple home is generally seen as the place where much of the foundation of Apple was developed, and it’s been depicted—perhaps with a little wishful thinking—as the epicenter of the creativity and genius of a few young geeks who “thought differently.”

That is certainly one point of view, seen in popular culture and movies like Pirates of Silicon Valley. However, this might be an overstatement at best. In a 2014 interview, co-founder of Apple Steve Wozniak said “[w]e did no designs there, no breadboarding, no prototyping, no planning of products. We did no manufacturing there.”

According to Wozniak, it was more of a practical solution to their lack of available funds. “The garage didn’t serve much purpose, except it was something for us to feel was our home,” said Wozniak. “We had no money. You have to work out of your home when you have no money.”

Still, the garage is seen as the birthplace of Apple Computers. Now and then people are seen taking photos of themselves in front of what today has been declared a historic landmark by the Los Altos Historical Commission.