Early Apple founder Wayne reminisces on Jobs

Apple's only sometimes mentioned third co-founder, Ron Wayne, offered his thoughts on the death of Steve Jobs in an interview late Wednesday. He told AppleInsider that working with Jobs was "one of the great privileges" of his life, first at Atari and later in a brief stint for Apple's earliest days. Many of the traits that would define Jobs were still present in 1976, including his emphasis on the future.

"What made Jobs so successful was his focused attention on whatever it was he wanted to do, his intellect, ability to read people and to gather around him the people who had the skills and abilities that he lacked," Wayne said. "He had the ability to read the future accurately, as to how the world was going to be."

He also lamented the seeming unfairness of losing Jobs so early. Wayne is now 77, 21 years older than the late CEO. "The fates are fickle and not very kind," he said.

Wayne doesn't regret his decision to exit Apple just 12 days into its existence. A failed slot machine venture and Jobs' need to take out credit to build the Apple I made Wayne realize that he was the one who stood to lose if Apple floundered. If he had held on to his $2,300 stake, it would now be worth $35 billion. In the interview, however, he wanted to clear views that he thought it would fail and instead said that it would be a rough trip.

"I had no doubt whatsoever that it was going to be a successful enterprise, but I knew it was going to be a considerable roller coaster," he said.

More of Wayne's insights are available in a new autobiography that should include more of his days at Atari.

By Electronista Staff